Tacoma Arts Commission Announces 2013 AMOCAT Arts Award Winners
The Tacoma Arts Commission has announced this year’s AMOCAT Arts Award winners: Erivan and Helga Haub and family (Arts Patron), Puget Sound Book Artists (Community Outreach by an Organization) and David Domkoski (Community Outreach by an Individual). The AMOCAT Arts Awards honor those who provide distinctive contributions to the arts in Tacoma.
- The Arts Patron award goes to Erivan and Helga Haub and family for their investment in the arts in Tacoma. In 2012, Tacoma Art Museum announced a major donation by the Haub family of 280 outstanding works of Western American art, along with endowment funds for the care of the collection and a 16,000 square foot museum expansion.
The Haub family gift of a world-class art collection will have a lasting legacy on the Tacoma community and greater region, elevating the city’s reputation as a cultural destination. As the only Western American art collection of this caliber in the Pacific Northwest, the Haub family gift will provide a new dimension of cultural offerings to our region and make more prominent the diversity of the city’s many cultural offerings.
“As the history of the Northwest is inextricably embedded within the history of the greater West, the Haub Collection will strengthen the meaning, value and historical perspectives of Northwest art within the broader art historical context of American art,” said TAM Executive Director Stephanie Stebich.
- The Community Outreach by an Organization award goes to Puget Sound Book Artists who, since 2010, has been carrying out its mission to create a spirit of community among book artists and those who love books. The organization has exhibited a deep and ongoing commitment to creating a welcoming and educational community for book artists of all skill levels to collaborate and share their work with the public.
Perhaps the most publicly visible work of PSBA is its annual juried book arts exhibition, which continues to grow each year. “There are limited venues for book arts to be displayed, so we feel strongly about the opportunity to showcase the book arts,” said PSBA President Rochelle Monner.
PSBA strives to increase educational opportunities for individuals and foster excellence by bringing book arts experts to Tacoma for lectures and workshops. Professional development also comes from within PSBA’s membership, which works collaboratively to self-produce exhibition catalogs and provide professional support to its members.
- The Community Outreach by an Individual award goes to David Domkoski for his dedication in bringing the arts to Tacoma through his work in local theater and through his job at the Tacoma Public Library.
“You know that quote, ‘Find a job you love and you will never work a day in your life?’” said Domkoski. “I have two jobs like that.”
Domkoski has directed theater for Tacoma Little Theater, Lakewood Playhouse, Northwest Playwrights Alliance, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma Repertory Theater, and Tacoma School of the Arts. In 2012, he created Assemblage Theater to produce provocative, quirky and challenging plays – including Pericles Snowdon’s “Bluebeard” and Mark O’Rowe’s “Terminus” – that explore the endless possibilities of live theater.
Having served as the Tacoma Public Library’s community relations manager since 1987, Domkoski is responsible for the Handforth Gallery – featuring the work of local, regional and nation visual artists including Alfredo Arreguin, Jacob Lawrence and Mary Randlett. He has worked tirelessly to bring free literary and performing arts experiences to the community through the library – featuring book talks by major American authors including Ray Bradbury, David McCullough and Sherman Alexie; concerts of all types including classical guitarists, brass bands and marimba ensembles; and the community-wide reading program – Tacoma Reads Together – with programs and events designed to engage the community in conversations around important issues.
Awardees will be honored at the annual Art at Work Opening Party on Oct. 28, from 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the Foss Waterway Seaport (705 Dock St.). Mayor Marilyn Strickland will present the awards starting at 7:15 p.m.
In addition, there will be live entertainment at this event that includes music by Taxi Driver, a molten iron pour by Tacoma Community College, contemporary dance by the BareFoot Collective, urban arts by Fab-5, poetry by Tacoma Poet Laureate Lucas Smiraldo, films by Kat Ogden and Carla Barragan, and a hands-on public art project with Diane Hansen. Attendees can experience the newly-renovated Foss Waterway Seaport which includes a new public art piece – “Lot 411” by Bret Lyon – and there will be appetizers, dessert and a no-host bar.
This free public event is sponsored by Click! Cable TV, the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation, Tacoma Weekly, KPLU, Weekly Volcano, Premier Media Group and Foss Waterway Seaport. Visit ArtAtWorkTacoma.com for more information.