Dave R. Davison Originally from the tiny town of Clovis on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, Dave R. Davison grew up in an Air Force family. A graduate of Clover Park High School, Dave worked for a time in warehouses, industrial facilities and art galleries. He returned to his studies at University of Washington where he earned degrees in International Studies, Comparative Religion and Art History. In addition to writing in several genres, Dave is a painter, sculptor, ceramicist and graphic designer. He is often seen walking his dog on Tacoma streets, especially on wet evenings.
25 July 2012
As of this month, there is a new set of art installations on view in the Woolworth Windows, Tacoma’s open-air gallery at the corner of Broadway and South 11th Street. Janet Marcavage, Jennifer Renee Adams and Laura Foster have put their creations in place in the window cases of the old building. A fourth artist, Kenjii…
Read More12 July 2012
Between 1976 and 2008 a bronze behemoth of a sculpture stood proud outside the old Sheraton Hotel in Broadway Plaza. The masterpiece - three tons and 21 feet of angular modernism - was the “Sun King” by Oregon artist Thomas Morandi. In 2008 the “Sun King” went into a long period of eclipse. It has been tucked away…
Read More5 July 2012
In the ecosystem of the art world, the co-op gallery fills a vital niche. These artist-run art establishments bridge the sometimes-yawning gulf between the closed world of the avocational artistic dabbler and the public realm of galleries run by art dealers. In a cooperative gallery a group of artists band together to pay…
Read More28 June 2012
June 25 saw the opening of a new, two-man show at the Gallery at Tacoma Community College called “Alain Clerc and David J. Roholt – Painting.” Put the emphasis on painting. These two know how to paint. Both are local artists: Clerc lives in Gig Harbor and Roholt is located in Lakewood. The pair was able to assemble…
Read More21 June 2012
There is a curious and seemingly incongruous object nestled alongside one of the quiet footpaths that meanders past the ornamental trees and the cascading stream of the Japanese Garden in Point Defiance Park. The object in question resembles a giant bullet – a sleek hunk of metal with a solid, heavy and venerable presence.…
Read More31 May 2012
Currently on display at the Fulcrum Gallery – Tacoma’s treasure on the Hilltop – is a show entitled “Visions of the Other Side (Surrealistic Portraits, a Group Show).” The four-person show consists of work by Larkin Cypher, Keith Carter, Kelsi Finney and Jeremy Gregory. What unites the four is that each of the artists…
Read More17 May 2012
Time is running out to see Traver Gallery’s latest extravaganza: “Engaging with Glass: A Survey of Contemporary Irish Glass Art.” The show of work by almost 40 different Irish artists working in glass runs through May 27. Originally shown at the Solstice Arts Center in Meath, Ireland, the show features the work of Irish…
Read More3 May 2012
The University of Puget Sound’s Kittredge gallery is currently hosting its annual show of works by seniors that are graduating with their Bachelor’s degrees in studio art. The 19 fledgling artists present a diverse range of media and subject matter. There are paintings, prints, mixed-media works, sculpture, video and…
Read More19 April 2012
Every art program has a set of teachers – masters of various art media. It is the teacher’s task to find the means to pass the knowledge of their medium to their students so that those students develop a fluency that allows them to most fully express themselves in terms of that medium.
Through the years, the art…
Read More8 March 2012
Entry into Tacoma's Traver Gallery brings on a dramatic "candy store" effect. There are so many sweet visions to explore that the viewer is pulled in multiple directions at once. There are platters and vases covered in flowers and faces. The ceramic surfaces are alive with tigers and swans. There are angels and skulls and…
Read More1 March 2012
This spring will mark 15 years since the completion of the Point Defiance Promenade – the half-mile stretch of concrete walkway that runs between the boathouse and driftwood strewn Owens Beach. The promenade was dedicated April 12, 1997. During the planning stage, a group of artists joined the project in an attempt to lend…
Read More23 February 2012
Baby heads! White, porcelain baby heads! There are more than 100 of them arranged in regimented rows and set in the center of the floor in the main space of UPS's Kittredge Gallery. The rectangular arrangement of these softball-sized heads is the main focus of the Kittredge's new installation: "Brian Benfer: Inchoate," which…
Read More16 February 2012
A combination of whimsy and grandiosity characterize "Orizon," Costos Varotsos' grand swoop of steel and glass fastened to the side of the Hotel Murano at 1320 Broadway. In her account of how she selected an artist to do a landmark sculpture for the revamped and renamed Sheraton, hotel art curator Tessa Papas made the process…
Read More9 February 2012
A new year has begun. Tacoma's Fulcrum Gallery is heralding the new beginning with a show of work by six relative newcomers to Tacoma's underappreciated art world. Julian Pena, Kelsi Finney, Brandon Urban, Kirsten Marie Pisto, Gabriel Brown and Meghan Mitchell have transformed the little gallery on the Hilltop into a showcase…
Read More26 January 2012
Ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro came from Hawaii to a snowed-in Tacoma and played to a packed house at the Rialto Theater Jan. 20. The arrangement for the show was downright minimalist: just Shimabukuro, his concert-sized ukulele and a pair of amplifiers. Shimabukuro played with such energy and emotional depth that he held…
Read More19 January 2012
Near the heart of Tacoma's Proctor District – outside the Wheelock Library at the corner of North 26th and Adams streets – stands a dapper, bronze figure. In his top hat, coat and tie, the bearded man of modest stature stands with right hand extended for a handshake. That hand thrust forward to clasp the hand of anyone…
Read More12 January 2012
The still life is an artistic composition in which an arrangement of objects – usually food, fruit, flowers, vessels and small, everyday items – are set before the viewer. Such arrangements have been present in art from the beginning. There were pictures of feast-laden tables in Egyptian tombs and on Greek vases and in…
Read More5 January 2012
History was made in Tacoma on New Year’s Day with the city's first officially sanctioned “Polar Bear Plunge.” Approximately 350 participants and observers gathered at the Point Defiance Marina for the noon plunge into the frigid waters of Commencement Bay. Children 10 and under did a "Cub Plunge" at 11:30 a.m. This…
Read More22 December 2011
Standing and gazing into the windows of the old Woolworth building... Passersby swing quizzical glances at the firmly-planted art lover that is transfixed by the visions behind the glass. This is a furtive art experience. One is so exposed to the elements and to the curiosity of wayfarers that it is difficult (if not inadvisable)…
Read More15 December 2011
Once upon a time (or so we might imagine), the Christmas spirit would descend around this time of year and the town’s merchants would respond with garish window displays. Rosy cheeked, mitten-handed townsfolk would stroll the sidewalks of the business districts to look at the festive displays before returning home to eat…
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