We can’t wait to meet you this weekend at the Tacoma Studio Tour! Visit, see, learn, create, shop. It’s free and for all ages.
What: Tacoma Studio Tour
Where: 42 studio locations around Tacoma
When: October 14 & 15, 11 am – 5 pm
Cost: FREE!
You are invited inside the working studios of 70 local artists to learn about the artistic process, ask questions, and purchase one-of-a-kind creations. Plus, you can even win some fabulous items hand-crafted by a selection of artists on the tour just for getting your Studio Tour Passport stamped at each studio address you visit. All studios will feature demonstrations or will have hands-on activities for visitors. It’s family friendly and free!
Check out TacomaArtsMonth.com for the full list of artists, schedule, your Tacoma Studio Tour Passport, and an interactive map where you can plot your own custom tour course.
Here are this week’s highlights:
Lucia Harrison
Lucia Harrison’s artwork focuses on an appreciation for the natural and human history of South Puget Sound. She hopes to inspire conversations about nature and an appreciation of the cultural history and contemporary conservation work by the peoples of this area.
Katie Dean, Little Green
Katie Dean is a letterpress artist who focuses on multi-layered linoleum block printing. Mainly using floral and nature themes, she enjoys studying, experimenting and exploring unique color combinations. A sketch of her idea starts the process and she hand carves the design into a linoleum block. Each color requires a separate block and most of her work is printed with a Chandler & Price 10×15 letterpress.
John McCuistion
John McCuistion creates artwork about history, myth, storytelling, religion, relationships, ceremony, civilization, and humor. The themes in his current work deal with air, land, water, and the magical natural world around us. He is interested in the language of gesture, expression, texture, form, and color. Through his work, John contributes to the long tradition of the artist as teacher, recorder, and seer.
Yoshiko Yamamoto, The Arts & Crafts Press
Yoshiko Yamamoto has been making woodblock prints and letterpress greeting cards for 20 years. Yoshiko was inspired by both the historic Arts & Crafts movement that advocated the importance of handwork in everyday life, and the beauty and craftsmanship in traditional Japanese woodblock prints. Lover of outdoors and gardening, her inspiration comes from her daily walks, occasional hikes with her family, and the time spent in her garden.
Becky Frehse
Becky Frehse’s mixed media paintings explore musical themes as they suggest visual patterns and color relationships. Many layers of textured modeling compounds and paint create luscious, colorful surfaces – sometimes on repurposed musical instruments.
Lyz Kurnitz-Thurlow, Lyz and Jewel
Lyz and Jewel primarily work with kimono and haori (shorter jackets). Garments are embellished with beads and embroidery to enhance their patterning. Lyz and Jewel also make fabric wall hangings, using Japanese fabrics, or Latin-American milagros, or Indonesian batiks.
Ann Darling, Kennedy Road
Simply put, Ann Darling loves textiles! When other people bring home treasures from travels – she brings fabric. She designs and makes custom clothing and accessories from fabric clients bring to her, or from the collection she has gathered, as well as from fabric printed from her own photographs. Seeing her ideas and clients dreams become reality wearing handmade, individual garments is what brings her joy.
Check out these other artists on the tour:
Studio Tour Preview: Part 1
Studio Tour Preview: Part 2
Studio Tour Preview: Part 3
Studio Tour Preview: Part 4
Studio Tour Preview: Part 5
Studio Tour Preview: Part 6
Studio Tour Preview: Part 7
Studio Tour Preview: Part 8
Studio Tour Preview: Part 9
Tacoma Satellite Studio Tour
Add the Satellite Studio Tour to your Tacoma Arts Studio Tour! Several artists grouped at four core Tacoma locations will show work on the same dates/times as the main tour – October 14 & 15, 11 am – 5 pm.
Includes these artists: Christopher Paul Jordan and Kenji Stoll (1212 S. 11th Street); Lisa Kinoshita and Nicholas Nyland (MINKA, 821 Pacific Avenue); Dion Thomas, Umi Wagoner, and Perris Wright (eTc, 907 Pacific Avenue); Ed Kroupa, Carolyn Osborne, Sharika Roland, and more (Creative Forces at Hotel Murano, 1320 Broadway Plaza).
Tacoma Studio Tour Passport – Visit and Win!
Make sure to have your Studio Tour Passport stamped at each studio address you visit. Once you’ve collected at least 8 stamps, send us the passport and you’ll be entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of several fabulous prize packages containing artwork hand-crafted by a selection of artists on this tour including:
Grace Amundsen – Acrylic ornaments 
Terry Bader – Small watercolor painting
Joe Becker – Set of notecards
Carolyn Burt – Small scratchboard artwork
Bill Colby – Small framed woodcut
Kris Crews – Mini photo cards
Ann Darling – Ice dyed silk and linen scarf
Katie Dean – Collection of greeting cards and a small print
Alice Di Certo – Pair of earrings
Kyle Dillehay – Alternative-process photograph
Michaela Eaves – Greeting cards
Lynne Farren – Painting, cards, bracelet
Becky Frehse – Small painting
Deborah Greenwood – Handmade cards
Henry Haneda – Small color print
Hilltop Artists – Glass bowl and glass plates
Han-Yin Hsu – 3D printed nylon earrings
Mark Hudak – Pottery bowl
Marie Jensen – An 8 x 10 print
Fumiko Kimura – Greeting cards
Juan La Torre – Thank you cards
Roberta Lowes – Cards or small scarf
Dorothy McCuistion – Small handmade book
John McCuistion – Set of 4 coaster tiles
Naarah McDonald – Upcycled fingerless sweater gloves, small tote bag, reversible apron
Dane Meyer – Small framed print
Roxann Murray – Save the Bees sticker
Chandler O’Leary – Tacoma temporary tattoos & Tacoma coloring cards
Sylvia Omero-Rogstad – Set of cards
Reid Ozaki – Vase
Karen Perrine – Set of marbled paper collage cards
Liz Pulos – Small tapestry
Claudia Riedener – 5 small handmade tiles
Mauricio Robalino – Small wall hanging mosaic
Penny Russell – Set of 4 Blooming Wine Glasses
Jessica Spring – Small book or print
Susan Thompson – Mug
Lorraine Toler – Signed print
Helen Tran – Washington shaped soap bar and greeting card
Audrey Tulimiero Welch – Small painting on paper
William Turner – Set of 5 art cards
Karen Utter – 2 handmade books
Elayne Vogel – Pair of earrings
Jeff Libby & Adrienne Wicks – Pair of reclaimed wood and steel book ends
Snow Winters – Small cross stitch lamp
Yoshiko Yamamoto – 2018 calendar
Lois Yoshida – Box of hand painted cards
One entry per person. The Tacoma Studio Tour Passport can be found in the Tacoma Studio Tour brochure (available at all studio locations during the tour and at many cultural institutions ahead of time) or download and print your own Tacoma Studio Tour Passport.
Tacoma Arts Month Sponsors
Premier Sponsors: Click! Cable TV, The Greater Tacoma Community Foundation
Media Sponsors: KNKX, Northwest Public Radio, ParentMap, Sounds Fun Mom, South Sound magazine, Tacoma Weekly, Weekly Volcano
Social Media Sponsor: ARCADE
Tags: Ann Darling, Becky Frehse, John McCuistion, Katie Dean, Lucia Harrison, Lyz Kurnitz-Thurlow, Tacoma Studio Tour, Yoshiko Yamamoto
Tacoma Arts 