Leave it to Lisa Kinoshita. The Tacoma artist who has brought us insect jewelry, taxidermy installations and everything else esoteric now explores the almost-lost art of horsehair hitching, a complicated Western braiding art, in a talk Friday night at Fulcrum Gallery.
Not only is horsehair hitching unusual, but to find artisans who have the hours and patience to spend making whips and bridles out of horsehair Kinoshita had to travel to Montana State Prison, where inmates are not only continuing an art that’s been made there since the 1800s but selling their finished pieces for thousands of dollars …
Tacoma artist Lisa Kinoshita will see her latest public art piece unveiled and dedicated this Saturday at the new Metro Parks STAR Center on South 66th St. Kinoshita’s “Sempervivum,” a $25,000 commission created under the 1 per cent for art money that’s part of any public project, was inspired by the natural wetland history of the area.
“My outdoor art installation pays tribute to the wetlands during its early-20th century heyday,” said Kinoshita. “This sculpture trilogy seeks to link the past to the future, celebrates South Tacoma’s fascinating natural heritage and highlights the sensitive balance between humans and their surroundings.”
Made of three large steel forms with plants covering them, “Sempervivum” makes use of green-roof technology, and fits with the center’s goal to achieve silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) status. Read more »
Lynn Di Nino, “Pin a Dorito on an American.” Photo courtesy Tom Holt and Elayne Vogel.
Dorito-fed Americans in GTCF show downtown
Twelve nominees for the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation’s annual Foundation of Art award, as well as award winner Jessica Spring, will exhibit their work in the street window of Tacoma’s Chamber of Commerce building this week. Among them is Lynn Di Nino, whose installation of five rotund, corn-fed paper-mache figures is titled “Pin a Dorito on an American.” Preview 5-7 p.m. Nov. 30, then viewable 24/7 through January. Free. Chamber of Commerce building, 11th and Pacific Avenues, Tacoma.www.tacomafoundation.org
Pacific Northwest Ballet’s “Nutcracker”
PNB’s famous “Nutcracker,” a sparkling collaboration between choreographer Kent Stowell and illustrator Maurice Sendak, opens this weekend in Seattle, with local caroling groups and lobby activities before each show. Nov. 25-Dec. 27. $28-$123. McCaw Hall, Seattle Center, 321 Mercer St., Seattle. 206-441-2424, www.pnb.org
Artist market and mural at skate rink
When Tollefson Plaza turns into an outdoor skating rink today, it’ll include some art: See Jeremy Gregory’s 27-foot Seuss-inspired “Twoville” on a wood frame surrounding the Christmas tree lot trailer, the yellow-floats pool installation by Holly Senn, Janet Marcavage and Bret Lyon, and the many artist-made goodies on sale at the European-style holiday market. Art 24/7, market 4-10 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 2. Free. Tollefson Plaza, 1900 Pacific Ave., Tacoma. www.polarplaza.com
Caribou art by Lisa Kinoshita at Fulcrum
Local metalsmith, jeweler and installation artist Lisa Kinoshita explores themes of backyard wildlife and suburbia in “Study #1: Backyard” at Fulcrum Gallery. Noon-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday through Dec. 3. Free. Fulcrum Gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma. 253-2500520, www.fulcrumtacoma.com
Mineral art space in Tacoma’s Stadium District has closed, and a new gallery will be opening in its place on May 19: Flow. Run by sumi-e and calligraphy artist Andrea Erickson, the gallery and studio will open with the show “Commencement,” featuring work by Erickson, Fumiko Kimura, Selinda Sheridan and Kathryn Whitacre, in a mixture of watercolor, mixed media, jewelry and three-dimensional art.
Andrea Erickson is a local sumi-e and calligraphy artist who has shown at the Bellevue Art Museum , the Western Washington State Fair, the Handforth Gallery at the Tacoma Public Library, the Kirsten, Sandpiper and White Dove Galleries, …
Kinoshita’s sculpture “What You Own, Owns You” is made up of three “purses,” combining mixed-media Tacoma elements (Almond Roca candy, T-Town tokens) with Kinoshita’s signature media of natural elements (a clay skull, butterfly, pearls) in a work that speaks to consumerism and the intersection of nature and culture.
Says Kinoshita: “This work takes a stance toward possessions,
Lisa Kinoshita, Tacoma artist and owner of Mineral studio gallery, has been announced as the winner of the 2010 “Foundation of Art” Award by the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation. The award, which carries $7,500 in unrestricted prize money, is in its third year, and recognizes artistic talent and commitment to the artistic life of Pierce County. It also results in a commissioned piece for the Community Foundation, to be unveiled in fall.
Previous winners of the award have been painters Jeremy Mangan and Chris Sharp. The award was juried this year by a committee of local art professionals. Other …
