To some individuals, the idea of putting personal works of art on display for anyone to see would be one of the more frightening things that he or she could ever do. Some may never be able to imagine themselves running into a burning building to save trapped victims, teaching to a class of elementary students every day, or moving clear across the country to begin a new life, but to a group of local artists now on exhibit as part of Freighthouse Art Gallery’s “Unveiling of Tacoma” show, these potentially frightening scenarios are not imagined, they are life.

Firefighter by day, and lifelong artist by night, Richard Jahn wants more than anything to convey honesty in his work. Jahn views art as his true calling in life, and wants to remain faithful to it. After high school, Jahn thought that he might have ended up taking over his parents’ hardware store, but soon realized that he could not because he had bigger and more artistic aspirations ahead of him in the future.

The majority of Jahn’s pieces in Freighthouse Gallery are oil works of various views of the South Sound. “Union Station” is a piece containing a view familiar to any Tacoman, but Jahn is able to successfully convey a sense of depth and perspective with his skillful hand. Layered buildings and architecture give way to breathtaking views of the Washington State History Museum and downtown Tacoma bustling with life. “Tacoma Dome” saturates the eyes with rich, verdant color. Tacoma Dome sits front and center, while bright and huge freeways and the traffic moving on Interstate 5 whirl around the famous edifice. An ideal clear day is depicted, showing promise and vitality in the City of Destiny.

Artist Ruth Volkmann utilizes aspects of childlike wonder and imagination that characterize the first stages of human life and transforms them into her canvas-lined world where, according to her artist statement, “the sun is always shining, and everything is happy, warm and secure.” Volkmann’s 12 years of service as a public school teacher lent to her fascination with seeing the world through the eyes of a child, and to always remembering how wonderful it is to view things for the very first time.

Volkmann’s chosen palette is an array of warm acrylic colors, and scenes that almost always include the sun, which has become known as her signature. In an untitled piece, a turquoise sea crashes on the shore of an island filled with tall forest trees. There are two lone edifices on the land - a lookout lighthouse and a secluded cabin deeper into the scene. The detail taken to note layered colored bricks and a velvety blue sea exhibit careful attention to the simplicities often taken for granted. In “Bi-Polar Bear,” a towering bear views his reflection in the frozen ice, but sees a very different, darker side of himself staring back at him from below. The same reflective bear views back from his cold frozen home, and the play on words of the piece gives the viewers a glimmer into Volkmann’s lively and fun take on the world around her.

Seeing the world “with an artist’s eye and a photojournalist’s visual storytelling” is what gives photographer Kate Lynch her distinctive edge in art making and in sharing her vision of the world. Born in Bordentown, New Jersey, Lynch headed out west first to Arizona to receive her bachelors of fine arts degree in photography, then to Washington for a digital photography program at the Fort Steilacoom campus of Pierce College. Both programs served her well, as now she takes knowledge from both institutions and tries with every photo to “make people think about what’s in the image.” The photo editing software Photoshop is one of Lynch’s greatest allies in altering nature and making it playfully deceiving.

“Salmon Escape” is a perfect example of Lynch’s expert manipulation tricking the eye into seeing what she wants it to see. Lynch took photos of three different places - the Broadway Center theaters in downtown Tacoma, the San Juan Islands, and the Seattle Aquarium - and skillfully layered them in a manner that appears so authentic that most individuals would never question the original location. The central figure, “Eddy” the salmon, as well as the aquarium wall exhibit such strong detail in focus, highlighted in the scales on Eddy’s body and the yellow shingles on the building frame.

The piece “Persistence of Memory,” named after the famous Salvador Dali painting of surrealist melting clocks, is a gorgeous panoramic view of the Ruston Way waterfront in autumn. An amazing visual dichotomy is at work in this piece, full of rich overwhelming oranges in contrast with the calm gray of the water and the fog in the sky. Rocks appear jagged and sharp, as if popping out of the photo. It is overall an idyllic and calm scene, composed together of four unique photographs layered seamlessly into one.

Each of these artists bring fragments of their life history with them and their pieces for the “Unveiling of Tacoma” show, and these are only a handful of the total artists on view. Anyone who appreciates the work of artists working hard to create beautiful works in addition to living their own lives will certainly appreciate the collective handiwork on display right now at Freighthouse Gallery.

“Unveiling of Tacoma” is on exhibit now through Dec. 15. Freighthouse Art Gallery is located inside Freighthouse Square at 602 E. 25th St., suite 60. Gallery viewing hours are Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the gallery’s website at http://www.freighthousesquare.com/MERCH/artgallery.html, or call (253) 383-9765.