A few of us TNT editors took a trip to Mandolin Cafe for a coffee break today.

We were amazed by the latte foam art coming out from behind the counter. Surely, there was an undiscovered artistic genius working the espresso machine.

I asked the Picasso of espresso, barista Ankyl Koontz, what drink was the canvas for his most elaborate creation. He replied, “A mocha.”

And soon this work of art appeared on my mocha.

“They don’t do that at Starbucks,” fellow editor John Henrikson said, eyeing

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Tollbooth Gallery. Image courtesy Tacoma Contemporary.

I just heard a great piece of news: the Tollbooth Gallery is coming back to life. Touted as the world’s smallest gallery by previous managers Jared Pappas-Kelley and Michael Lent, the Tollbooth was a former TV-Tacoma kiosk that the City of Tacoma had allowed ArtRod to fill with hip and sometimes quite weird work on paper. When Pappas-Kelley and Lent left town last year, the Tollbooth ceased operation, along with their gallery Critical Line.

Since then, it’s been a bit of a blight on

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Choral Union in Queen’s College, Cambridge, on their previous European tour. The choir sings Saturday at Lagerquist Hall. Photo: courtesy Choral Union.

Free show for Choral Union and then it’s off to Europe

It’s taken two years of fundraising and nearly three years of planning. It involves 45 singers and four countries. It’s the third European tour by local choir Choral Union, from July 2-16. But in case you can’t make it to the Prague or Dubrovnik concerts, the choir’s performing its tour concert at Pacific Lutheran University Saturday night, for free.

I was in New York a few weeks ago and crammed in as much art as I could.

I caught the Whitney Biennial and a few galleries (one word: Moss) but it was at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum where I found parallels to and coincidences with Tacoma’s art scenes.

Perched as if the slightest breeze might take it away, Jeff Koons’ "Balloon Dog (Yellow)" sits on the roof of the Met. Clearly, the 10-foot steel sculpture was the Met’s version of

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The Renaissance in Forty Parts at TAM

Be the first in the Northwest to see the new sound installation at Tacoma Art Museum. Janet Cardiff’s "The Forty Part Motet" involves forty sound speakers set around the gallery, projecting the ethereal sounds of "Spem in Alium" by Renaissance composer Thomas Tallis. Opens June 28. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Monday – Saturday, 12 – 5 p.m. Sunday, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Thursdays. $7.50/$6.50/five and under and third Thursdays free. 1701 Pacific Ave, Tacoma. 253-272-4258, www.tacomaartmuseum.org

Tacoma City Ballet’s One-Night Art Stand

Head up the red carpet

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It’s a ways off yet, but fans of such classics as “Raging Bull,” “The Great Escape” and “Some Like It Hot,” should mark their calendars now to ready themselves for the rare opportunity to see those movies on the big screen in August.

The Grand Cinema is bringing that distinguished trio and three others of similar cinematic stature to Tacoma to mark the 90th anniversary of United Artists, the studio that made all of them. During the week of Aug. 1, the Grand will play “Raging Bull,” “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Great Escape.” Then the following week, beginning

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If you’re a local filmmaker, the Grand Cinema wants to see what you’ve got, filmmakingwise. The theater’s executive director, Philip Cowan tells us he was so impressed with the response to the Grand’s 72- Hour Film Competition that he wants to incorporate the concept into the Tacoma Film Festival, which will arrives in early October.

Specifically, he’s inviting filmmakers from Washington (no out-staters need apply) to create five-minute minimovies to compete for approximately 18 slots in a Local Filmmaker Showcase that will be part of the festival. “There are no restrictions on what kind of film you make,” he

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Tacoma Musical Playhouse is finishing its 14th season with “Grease” in July.

If you aren’t familiar with the story (maybe you have an unexplainable fear of John Travolta) here’s how TMP describes their show:

Set in fictional Rydell High School, this vibrant show celebrates a time when the word "teenager" was in the process of being coined by the Class of ’59, bobby socks were fashionable, and beehive hairdos were cool. It’s the love story of Sandy and Danny as they make their way through a world of

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