SURFACING ARTIST. Chauney Peckâ??s â??Surface,â?? part of the current display at Woolworth Windows, turns an ordinary object â?? pipe cleaners â?? into a visually stimulating experience. (Phot courtesy Tacoma Contemporary)
What do a mountain range, a flock of birds and an intricately twisted length of pipe cleaners have in common?
Well, not much, but they’re all on display together at the Woolworth Windows.
Woolworth Windows is part of Tacoma Contemporary, an organization that works to advance contemporary visual arts in Tacoma, and provides opportunities for artists to present their work to the community, according to Jessica Balsam, a member of Tacoma Contemporary’s board of directors.
Balsam explained that Woolworth Windows was originally the Commencement Art Gallery in the Pantages Theater, created in 1993 by the city of Tacoma. The organization became an official nonprofit in 2000, and later moved to the Woolworth building on 11th and Broadway where passersby can look in through the windows to see the work of local artistic talents any time they like.
According to Balsam, the owners of the Woolworth building approached Tacoma Contemporary about relocating the Commencement Art Gallery to their building, because they wanted “something street-friendly” in the windows. In return, they allow Tacoma Contemporary to occupy the space for free, serving the needs of both parties.
The Woolworth Windows display is also assisted by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission.
Balsam noted that the Woolworth Windows display area, which is lighted 24 hours a day and features over 700 square feet of window area, emphasizes its three-dimensional space and its use to artists who work in three-dimensional media.
The three different works of art that currently occupy the Woolworth Windows make good use of the accommodations with impressively diverse artwork.
Included in the display is a joint project by artists Renee Adams, Howard Barlow, Natalie Dotzauer and Justin Gibbens, which features bird images in both sculpture and paint. The sculptures make up a series of oddly proportioned birds carved from wood with what look like real feathers for wings, suspended from the ceiling by string and carrying a ballistic missile under each wing. The bird paintings next to the sculptures feature more normal-looking birds that project off of the paper, becoming 3D themselves, or have shadows that stretch off the original canvases and onto the wall.
Artist Chauney Peck’s piece “Surface” combines graphite, found objects and countless white pipe cleaners. The result is a twisted, intricate trail that looks like frost or coral and climbs the walls and ceiling like ivy.
Sara Osebold’s piece titled “Mountain Range” is featured in the 11th and Commerce corner of the Woolworth building. The artwork features several saucers strewn about the indoor space; each one is topped with a rock or a miniature figurine of a horse, deer, bear or mountain goat. A length of red fabric runs under the saucers in straight lines throughout the room like the lines of a connect-the-dots puzzle. Osebold gives “Mountain Range” another 3D element by placing the saucers on the floor, on shelves and on raised blocks, which allows a better feel for the artwork’s title.
Balsam admitted that there are no unifying ideas behind the three pieces of art. “There usually aren’t,” she noted. However, she added that the pieces “all have an organic theme” of their own and that “they were chosen to go together.”
The current Woolworth Windows collection will be on display through Jan. 27.