The fashionisti at Nordstrom know a lot about retail. Reports are rolling in that they also know a thing or two about how to party. Just a few days ago, Nordstrom reopened at the Tacoma Mall, adding 4,000 square feet to its already-huge retail space. And to celebrate, they threw a gala benefit for the Tacoma Art Museum and the Museum of Glass. Worthy causes, both. And now those two institutions have $85,000 that they didn’t have before. If you weren’t there, you can see how the festivities went by checking out the Weekly Volcano’s Flickr page.

–James

Matthew Scott was one of the first servicemen to join the fight in the War on Terror. Just days after 9/11, as an Air Force Staff Sergeant, he left for Afghanistan and watched the very first B-1 bomber take off on its bombing mission. He served well and later was given an honorable discharge. Still, his battle experiences, like those of so many others, left deep scars on his psyche. In the midst of a particularly dark night of the soul, he took up a paintbrush and began documenting the lineament of his trauma in paint – cataloguing both the regret over having inflicted pain and the gratitude for having found a way out of his own suffering through art. An exhibition of Scott’s paintings at The Lark Gallery, runs through October 12.

–Dale

Mindy Barker just opened a new show called “Slice,” at Fulcrum Gallery.  The show, which ranges from a large painted glass installation to other, smaller, works has been described as having a uniquely archaeological feel, while, in the Weekly Volcano, Alec Clayton suggested something more geological, that the photographic transfers and collage images are sandwiched into “rocklike forms” and “cave like openings.” I like that. The glass paintings remind me, though, of giant microscope slides, bearing images that are like brief (i.e. microscopic) moments in the artist’s life – at once concrete and abstract, revealing a part of the story, but never, ever, the full plot. Fulcrum gallery is at 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way and “Slice” runs through September 14.

–Dale

Animal Avenue, the latest addition to the Point Defiance Zoo, has finally opened, with homes occupied by about 19 new neighbors! Here they are:

• Meerkat

• Ring-tailed Lemur

• Black Lemur

• Damaraland Mole Rat

• Golden Orb Weaver spider

• Goliath Bird-eating Spider

• Antilles Pink-toed Tree Spider

• Emerald Tree Boa

• Green Tree Python

• Western Bell’s Hinge-back Tortoise

• Pancake Tortoise

• Ornate Horned Frog

• White’s Tree Frog

• Hour Glass Tree Frog

• Surinam Toad

• Long-legged Desert Ant

• African Emperor Scorpion

• Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

• African Cichlid

Be sure to throw the kids in the welcome wagon and head there for a visit!

–Dale

As the economy tightens, it may be tempting to think about cutting costs. But slashing expenses willy-nilly can cripple your business. There are often less painful ways to stay afloat. The operative word is balance. This superb article from the Microsoft Small Business Center offers eight sensible budgeting tips. Here’s the first:“

Accept the learning curve. Living with a budget is an education. Trimming your expenses, knowing how long a paycheck is going to last or how much of a cash reserve to keep around… working these skillfully will take some time. But you can learn to adjust a budget as you go, and what was once a shot in the dark gradually will become a more predictable and useful practice.”

Being reasonable yet disciplined can even open up paths to success that you may not have discerned before. Go to the full article to read seven more tips on balanced budgeting.

–Dale

Much as we’d like to, The Looking Glass can’t keep you apprised of everything happening in the bustling local arts scene. Fortunately, one of our local news agencies has picked up the ball. The News Tribune now publishes “GO Arts,” a daily arts blog. Artists live frantic, often unpredictable lives. “GO Arts” intends to stay ahead of the game, covering what’s happening, what’s not, who’s in town and who’s getting out of Dodge. As its mission statement says, “GO Arts” will tell you “what’s new on the walls, stage, screen and streets of Tacoma and South Puget Sound.” I, for one, intend to bookmark that one.

–Dale

The Venetian art world is both ebullient and poised; traditional, yet youthful. It respects its own illustrious history, yet no one takes its lore less seriously than the Venetians themselves. Lucio Bubacco understands such seeming contradictions. A Venice native himself, Bubacco is well-trained in the traditional lamp-working techniques of his forebears. Yet every piece he creates is like a breath of fresh air, keeping established traditions fresh and relevant. In his hand the exuberant paganism and of the Venice Carnivale takes center stage as masked men and dancing women cavort with devils and satyrs. His work is a toast to life in all its decadent and spiritual forms, and who can tell which is which? Take your guess by catching his work near the front desk.

–Dale

A few months ago, I mentioned that Narcissus Quagliata’s chimerical “Dreamer,” would be installed in our hotel. As it turns out, glass art is a family business for the Quagliatas, and his son, Orfeo, has earned a world-class reputation in his own right. Orfeo Quagliata spent his childhood in San Francisco, where he began working with glass at age 12 as an apprentice to his father. Since then he has moved on to appear in top-rank museums and galleries around the world. His work always makes a great first impression. Maybe that’s why he was chosen to design our front desk!

–Dale

Billy Morris once assisted Dale Chihuly as a gaffer, which, in glass art circles, refers to a master glassblower who shapes glass as it comes out of the kiln. In other words, he worked directly with Chihuly to help execute that master’s designs and ideas. Since then, he has moved on to become one of the most original, creative and virtuosic glassblowers in the world. Inspired by ancient civilizations, tribal cultures and mythology, his sculptures raise ordinary artifact to the level of art. Raise yourself in our elevator to the 25th floor and see the work he’s done for us.

–Dale

One of my pet peeves about the Web is that whenever creative organizations launch a new website, all-too-often, navigation is difficult and those fancy-schmancy flash animations render the download times interminably long. Ugh. Thankfully, this is not the case with the Tacoma Art Museum site. Easy to surf, yet pretty to behold, this site is, in my opinion, a model of Web design. (Such good design doesn’t come cheap, I’m sure.) Here’s an opportunity for you to help the museum pay for its facelift: October 18, TAM will be holding its annual gala benefit. Show up and pitch in!

–Dale