Two important exhibitions coming to TAM and MOG
Published in the Weekly Volcano, July 23, 2015
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| Kia Labeija, “Mourning Sickness,” 2014. Inkjet print, 16 × 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist. |
Hey Tacomans,
do you know how fortunate you are to have two world-class art museums? Few
cities the size of Tacoma have such treasures Tacoma Art Museum and Museum of
Glass. These museums not only bring great art and great artists to town (and
show the works of great artists already living and working here), but they also
touch our hearts and minds and educate the populace about critical social and
political issues and events that touch the lives of everyone.
Scheduled for
fall openings are two exhibitions that should be of interest to many Tacomans
and, particularly, to the soldiers and their families at JBLM.
Art AIDS
America at Tacoma Art Museum
Art AIDS America at Tacoma Art Museum explores the AIDS epidemic from the early days in
the 1980s when no one fully understood what it was, how it was contracted and
spread; to today when many people have now lived with HIV/AIDS for decades
—albeit with drug regimens that are themselves devastating.
Ten years in
the making, and featuring more than 115 works of
art created over a 30-year span, Art AIDS
America is America’s first comprehensive exhibition of art by and about the AIDS
epidemic. Throughout that 30-year history,
artists have created AIDS-related art that is angry, sad, hopeless and hopeful,
including political protests against the lack of government reaction to the
epidemic and against drug companies that were more concerned with the bottom
line than the lives of fellow citizens.
Hot Shop
Heroes: Healing with Fire at Museum of Glass
In 2013 Museum of Glass piloted a new program called Hot Shop Heroes:
Healing with Fire. Led by glass instructors, soldiers from Joint Base Lewis
McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion worked in the museum’s hot shop to fire
glass art expressing their experience as warriors. Hot Shop Heroes is an exhibition of work created by JBLM soldiers who are
veterans of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
soldiers in the program have all served at least one deployment in Iraq or
Afghanistan; some have multiple deployments
Not all work
created in the program is included. The
exhibition is from spring and summer classes in 2015, classes that are ongoing
at the time this article is being written, meaning we do not yet know what
works will be included.
A MOG press
release states that the works includes personal expressions of the soldiers’
personal experiences and feelings about war and life in the military and also
"a few pieces that are more lighthearted and are representational of the
basic glass-working skills acquired during their participation in the program."
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