Community Calendar

This is a permanent exhibition. Since time immemorial, Tribal nations have existed in this place we call Washington. This Is Native Land invites visitors to understand Washington State through the lived experiences and voices of its Native people.

Tribal nations are sovereign nations. Today, Native history, culture, and community thrive in our state. Through everyday acts of sovereignty – big and small – Indigenous peoples demonstrate they are still here, they have persevered, and they will always be here.

This Is Native Land is guided by three teachings:
We are of the land and waters
With knowledge comes responsibility
Sovereignty protects people, lands, and waters

These teachings are shared through multimedia, artwork, and interactive objects designed for guest engagement. They represent a contemporary continuation of Tribal stories and traditions.

Over 100 Native contributors from more than 60 Tribes shaped the exhibition’s stories and content. We thank the Native Advisory Committee and all community participants for their contributions.

LeMay – America’s Car Museum proudly presents The Birth of the American Supercar, a groundbreaking exhibition guest curated by renowned automotive innovator Steve Saleen. This one-of-a-kind display invites guests on an exhilarating journey through the evolution of American supercars. From early speed pioneers to cutting-edge modern marvels, visitors will experience a stunning lineup of vehicles that have redefined engineering, speed, and style, built by a wide range of American automotive manufacturers like Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Saleen himself, and even some more obscure ones like Vector, Cunningham, and Hennessey. From roaring V8s to sleek carbon-fiber bodies, discover how American automakers pushed boundaries, challenged European rivals, and redefined what a supercar could be. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to see some of the most thrilling and historically significant American-made performance vehicles ever built—all under one roof.

Discover how a new Nordic food movement has sparked interest in local ingredients and natural materials across borders and artistic disciplines.

New Nordic Cuisine is a movement that started in the Nordic countries in the early 2000s and has since grown into an international phenomenon.

With its interpretations of wild nature, the Nordic climate, local foodstuffs and culinary traditions, the movement spawned a distinctive aesthetic that was expressed in meals, tableware and restaurant interiors. Locally-sourced natural materials, animal skins and untreated wood, handmade ceramics and the use of wild vegetation as raw ingredients and for decoration all featured prominently.

"New Nordic: Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place" shows how this food movement merged with other contemporary cultural trends.

Through architecture, contemporary art, design and crafts from the museum’s collection, and objects loaned from various restaurants, the exhibition examines the “new Nordic” concept as a broad aesthetic development defined by the interaction between materials, people and landscape.

Curated by a panel of art jurists, the exhibition features work by more than 20 South Sound artists. With media including painting, drawing, photography and glass art, some of the exhibition’s works provide windows into personal history and collective culture. Other pieces are non-representational.

Taken as a whole, the exhibition challenges us to take an expansive view of Black art as an abundance of unique expressions drawn from the deep well of vibrant community.

The exhibition will run from Feb. 11 - March 13, 2026. Admission is free to the public.

LOCATION:

The Gallery is located in Bldg. 4 at Tacoma Community College, near the corner of 12th and Mildred streets. Visitor Parking is available in Lot G.

HOURS:

Monday: Closed
Tuesday - Thursday: 10am-4pm
Third Thursday of each month: 10am-8pm
Friday: 10am-3pm
Saturday - Sunday: Closed

In celebration of its 30th anniversary, the Washington State Historical Society invites you to explore the history of building the State History Museum. 30 Years and Counting: The Making of the Washington State History Museum is a special exhibition that uncovers the vision, effort, and community spirit that brought this iconic Tacoma landmark to life.

Discover the bold ideas and architectural ingenuity that shaped the museum’s distinctive look. From early sketches to final blueprints, see how the building’s design reflects both innovation and reverence for Washington’s past. Go behind the scenes of the museum’s construction. Through photographs and artifacts from the building process, witness how a dream took shape—brick by brick, beam by beam.

Staff Picks: 30 Objects for 30 Years

In a special feature area, museum staff share their favorite objects from the collection—each one a personal reflection on the power of history to inspire, surprise, and connect us.

Descend into the darkness with photographer Robbie Shone to see the world’s strangest, most remote places.

This is the ultimate insider’s look at the last true frontiers of exploration on this planet. National Geographic Explorer Robbie Shone has illuminated and photographed scenes in the world’s deepest, largest, and longest cave systems. He reveals never-before-seen visuals from 7,000 feet below ground and shares the stories behind his breathtaking features for National Geographic magazine.

ABOUT ROBBIE SHONE
Robbie Shone is recognized as one of the most accomplished cave photographers in the world. His work has been featured in National Geographic, GEO, Intelligent Life, Stern, View, and Terra Mater. He has also worked for European Space Agency programs, documenting astronauts undergoing geological and microbiological field training. Shone works as an expert on National Geographic Student Expeditions and for major film and television crews, including the IMAX films Ancient Caves and Earth: The Power of the Planet.

Welcomed by KNKX. Frank Vignola is one of the most extraordinary guitarists performing before the public today. His stunning virtuosity has made him the guitarist of choice for many of the world’s top musicians, including Ringo Starr, Madonna, Donald Fagen, John Lewis, Tommy Emmanuel, Lionel Hampton, the Boston Pops, the New York Pops, and guitar legend Les Paul, who named Vignola to his “Five Most Admired Guitarists List:” for the Wall Street Journal.

His dynamic genre-spanning music has brought him to 21 countries on three continents – and still growing – performing in some of the world’s most illustrious venues, including the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, New York’s Lincoln Center, The Blue Note, and the world’s oldest indoor concert hall, Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Italy.

Pasquale Grasso - It was the kind of endorsement most rising guitarists can only dream of, and then some. In his interview for Vintage Guitar magazine’s February 2016 cover story, Pat Metheny was asked to name some younger musicians who’d impressed him. “The best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life is floating around now, Pasquale Grasso,” said the jazz-guitar icon and NEA Jazz Master. “This guy is doing something so amazingly musical and so difficult. “Mostly what I hear now are guitar players who sound a little bit like me mixed with a little bit of [John Scofield] and a little bit of [Bill Frisell],” he continued. “What’s interesting about Pasquale is that he doesn’t sound anything like that at all. In a way, it is a little bit of a throwback, because his model—which is an incredible model to have—is Bud Powell. He has somehow captured the essence of that language from piano onto guitar in a way that almost nobody has ever addressed. He’s the most significant new guy I’ve heard in many, many years.”

One night. Three comedians. Countless laughs. Join us for a whirlwind of hilarity featuring three distinct comedic styles that will take you from everyday absurdities to unexpected revelations. Whether you love observational humor, storytelling, or lightning-quick wit, this show delivers. Ages 18+.

Patty Griffin has announced a new slate of live dates for 2026. The Americana icon comes to the Moore Theatre, co-headlined by Rickie Lee Jones. Griffin’s upcoming outing follows her triumphant 11th studio album Crown of Roses, which arrived in July as her first full-length offering in six years.

“Rickie Lee has been a North Star for me,” Griffin said before a 17-date tour with Jones that crossed the Northeast and Midwest. “Knowing how undeniably sublime she is as a songwriter and performer has kept me more grounded. I mean, with songs like hers, I’ve reminded myself over and over, women have voices that need to be heard and that have great value.”

Join us once a month for Hillman City Sway! Presented in partnership with Black & Tan Hall and Blues Underground. Featuring a swanky evening of local live music, DJ's and dance instructors.

4th Thursday of every month--EXCEPT DECEMBER, EVENTon 12/18/25

Doors at 7pm

Mixer and dance lessons 8-9pm

Band plays 9-11pm

All ages welcome until 10 PM! Bar w/ID. Food by Chef Tay.

$15 advanced online tickets, $20 plus service charge at the door.

With general admission tickets, seats are on a first-come first-served basis.