ARLIS/NA NW CHAPTER
WINTER/SPRING MEETING
FEB 13-15, 2004.

Several ARLIS NW Chapter members and guests travelled from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alberta to attend the annual winter/spring meeting, hosted by Sharon Winters, Resource Center Coordinator for the Tacoma Art Museum, on Feb 13-15, 2004. The business meeting, presentations and luncheon were all held in the stunning new Tacoma Art Museum designed by New Mexico architect Antoine Predock (http://www.tacomaartmuseum.org/).
 
Following the business meeting, Dr. Julie Nicoletta, Univ. of Washington in Tacoma, gave an illustrated talk on Tacoma’s history and landmark buildings.  Downtown Tacoma, as with many other North American cities, became very rundown with the growth of suburban shopping malls.  In the mid-1990’s the handsome beaux-arts Union Railway Station (1911) was converted for use as a courthouse, sparking a revival in the downtown area.  The government took over many older warehouses and office buildings, and in 1997, the University of Washington Tacoma campus moved to the historic centre of the city.  The campus occupies several renovated heritage buildings and new buildings designed to fit in with the character of the area.  The University administration encourages mixed use of the older buildings, with retail on the ground floor and offices above.  An LRT line was recently installed and a new convention centre is under construction a few blocks from the campus. The new art museum and Museum of Glass (http://www.museumofglass.org/) have also added to the revitalization of this historic area.

Our second speaker, Brian Kamens, demonstrated the Tacoma Public Library’s Tacoma & Pierce County Building Index database (http://www.tpl.lib.wa.us/v2/NWROOM/Build.htm), based on the Pierce County Buildings Index card file. Conversion of the card file is ongoing, with several thousand entries already converted. The database includes every mention of a building from two Tacoma daily newspapers from 1883 to 1945.  Entries in the database are linked to the NW Room & Special Collections historic photographs collection.

After the chapter meeting, we had a guided tour of Tacoma Art Museum and the Bill & Melinda Gates Art Resource Center research centre & library, operated primarily by volunteer staff. The conference attendees each received a Valentine's Day gift bag with several art monographs and other materials.  We also visited the new Museum of Glass/International Center for Contemporary Art, designed by Canadian architect Arthur Erickson.  A unique "bridge of glass" crosses the railway tracks, connecting the museum with the downtown core and doubling as a showcase for glass art works donated by Dale Chihuly. Chihuly is originally from Tacoma, and has been very supportive of his home town. A main feature of the Glass Museum is an enormous glass blowing studio topped by Erickson's distinctive funnel shaped dome (echoing Mt. Ranier in the distance) where visitors can watch glass artists in action.

Saturday evening, we gathered for dinner and a social, graciously hosted by Sharon Winters at her home.  On Sunday, there was a guided tour of the University of Washington and the historic downtown area. The University Library is located in a historic industrial building. A focal point of the library is a bright and airy reading room decorated with a large Chihuly glass sculpture suspended from the ceiling.

This all too brief introduction to Tacoma’s history and culture proved that Tacoma is definitely worth a return visit.  Our next meeting is planned for the weekend of Nov. 19-21 at the new Seattle Public Library.

(submitted by Carole Goldsmith, Simon Fraser University Library)

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