As part of our Pacific Seas Aquarium Community Celebration this April, we’re filling every Friday with art!
Join our talented Pacific Seas Aquarium artists each Friday to meet them, find out how they make things and then make some art of your own! On the final Friday, we join with hundreds of others all around Tacoma in a city-wide art installation, “Turtle Wave.”
April 5: Kait Rhoads – Jellies!
Artist talks: 11am, 1pm
Art-making: All day
Seattle artist Kait Rhoads made the three enormous glass jellyfish hanging near Baja Bay by blowing and cutting glass hexagons, then weaving them onto steel “tentacles”. Meet Kait and the people who helped her, including Tacoma’s Hilltop Artists and the Museum of Glass. Then make your own glass bead jellyfish, design a possible glass artwork for the Museum of Glass Hot Shop to make, and find out about our real jellies.
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OFFSITE: ART+STORY event
Thurs. April 11: Gordon Huether – Art+Sci Salon
When: 6pm Food, drink, mingling; 6:30pm talks and Q&A; 7pm more mingling.
Where: Kittredge Gallery, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St., Tacoma, WA 98416
Join Pacific Seas Aquarium artist Gordon Huether as he collaborates with local scientists to talk about how humans perceive light – and how that helps him create astonishing public art works like “Shoal” and “Shimmer.” Also on the Art+Sci program: Dr. Peter Wimberger, UPS biologist, on the evolutionary ecology of fish schooling, color and vision; plus UPS neuroscientist Dr. Siddarth Ramakrishnan on how our brains “see” color.
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April 12: Gordon Huether – Shimmer!
Artist talks: 11am, 1pm
Art-making: All day
California artist Gordon Huether was inspired to create his light art installation “Shimmer” by the actual shimmer of light on water in our old North Pacific Aquarium. Schooling herring, like the ones in the aquarium, inspired his metal installation “Shoal.” Meet Gordon and hear how he creates his work. Then make your own “Shimmer” dance video – tag us if you upload! – or fish artwork.
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April 19: Maria Jost, Seascape!
Artist talks: 11am, 1pm
Art-making: All day
Tacoma artist and scientist Maria Jost created the delicate seascape mural behind the Tidal Touch Zone by studying Puget Sound beach life, painting intricate watercolor panels, then combining everything into a digital mural. Meet Maria and paint your own watercolor with the help of Maria’s students from the Science and Math Institute, a high school with a campus right here at the Zoo.
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April 26-28: Community art – “Turtle Wave”
Art-making: All day
The ocean is facing problems – but together we can make a wave of change. Join hundreds of Tacomans to make a community art “wave” of paper turtles, each with your pledge to protect the ocean. “Waves” from Eastside, People’s and STAR community centers will join the Zoo’s in a floating testament to how Tacoma cares for the ocean. Each turtle will earn $2 towards ocean conservation, thanks to the Ocean Art Challenge and the Bezos Family Foundation.
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FIND OUT MORE about the Pacific Seas Aquarium Community Celebration.
TUESDAY OCEAN VOICES | STORYTELLING THURSDAYS | WEEKEND WONDERS
Thanks to our partner, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital.