Oct 01 Wednesday
Echoes of the Floating World features a striking collection of 18th, 19th and early 20th-century Japanese woodblock prints from the Tacoma Art Museum and others, displayed alongside works by contemporary Northwest artists. This exhibition honors the rich legacy of ukiyo-e while exploring its cultural impact on today’s artistic expressions.
Hours-
Monday CLOSEDTuesday CLOSEDWednesday 10 am – 5 pmThursday 10 am – 8 pmFriday 10 am – 5 pmSaturday 10 am – 5 pmSunday 10 am – 5 pm
We are protesting project 2025. TacomaRama marching band will join us for the next 4 years. We will meet each month on the Saturday closest to the 18th each month. Always 10am, always Reconciliation park. Feel loved and supported.
The period from the 1870s to the 1900s, known as the Gilded Age, saw the rise of the railroad, textile industry, and production. It also saw a rise in migration to US cities, providing workers to fill low paying jobs producing many of the fashions of the era. This era marked a turning point in fashion as new technologies and changing cultural norms transformed the ways in which people dressed.
Explore this history and enjoy the rare chance to see clothing, notions, and artifacts of the period from the Washington State Historical Society collections.
Never Turn Back: Echoes of African American Music unveils the profound legacy of Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul artists who shaped the soundscape of American culture and used their music as instruments of resistance, identity, and representation.
Gospel, Blues, Jazz, and Soul embody the profound influence of African American music on culture and history. From the spiritual foundations and transformative movements of Gospel hymns to the revolutionary improvisations of Jazz, the Blues’ Southern roots rising from the Mississippi Delta, and Soul’s powerful amplification of the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, these genres have defined the unique sound and undying spirit of a nation that continues to echo through contemporary Black music today.
Live Jazz!
In this course wildlife artist, Natasha Terry, will guide participants on how to paint illustrations of local animals (no drawing skills needed). Beginners are absolutely welcome! Natasha will go over the fundamentals of watercolor painting and make sure you have the basics you need to paint within your own style and skill level. The lessons include a range of animals (birds, amphibians, bugs, and mammals), rather than landscapes or environments. We will work on up to 5 different watercolor illustrations over the course of 6 weeks. Weather permitting, we may spend a small portion of our class time in the park area surrounding the community center. This class is meant to be fun and enriching—a beautiful way to connect with the gorgeous urban ecosystems of Seattle.
It’s almost like being in love! Dance your way back in time to one of the most romantic musicals ever written, Lerner and Loewe’s Brigadoon. Americans Tommy and Jeff are hiking the Scottish Highlands, when out of the mists they stumble upon the enchanting village of Brigadoon, which appears for only one day every 100 years. But this dreamlike place is far more than it seems—and those who fall in love there might never be the same.
From the writers of My Fair Lady and Camelot comes this soaring love story, full of glorious ballet and favorite tunes like “Come to Me, Bend to Me,” “The Heather on the Hill” and “Almost Like Being in Love.” This production features an exquisite new adaptation, which enhances all the romance and magic that makes Brigadoon a truly timeless masterpiece.
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.”
Supported by KNKX. In the mid 1990s, The New York Times described Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, and Bill Stewart as “the best organ trio of the last decade.” The trio, which has now been together for over 30 years, has been recognized for charting new ground, with its synergistic playing, and thoughtful music. They have over a dozen recordings, all of which display their distinctive sound, whether exploring the depths of jazz standards, or playing their own original compositions.
Of their newest offering, Toy Tunes (Pirouet), Downbeat said, “The whole album subtly subverts organ-trio cliches, offering not chicken-shack party stomps but instead some hip after-hours atmospherics.”
$65 General | $63 SeniorLoudon Wainwright III and special guest Kyshona, hit the VCA stage on October 1st at 7:30pm.
Loudon Wainwright III began 2025 with the January release of the new album “Loudon Live in London” which was recorded during a 3-night residency at Nell’s Jazz and Blues club in 2024. Born in Chapel Hill, N.C. in 1946, Loudon Wainwright III came to fame when “Dead Skunk” became a Top 20 hit in 1972. He had studied acting at Carnegie-Mellon University but dropped out to partake in the Summer of Love in San Francisco and wrote his first song in 1968 (“Edgar,” about a lobsterman in Rhode Island). Loudon was signed to Atlantic Records by Nesuhi Ertegun, and after that was lured by Clive Davis to Columbia Records, which released “Dead Skunk.” His songs have since been recorded by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Earl Scruggs, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, his son Rufus Wainwright, and Mose Allison among others.
This world renowned folk legend takes the stage at Vashon Center for the Arts on Wendesday, October 1, 2025. Joining Loudon is special guest, Nashville-based singer/songwriter, Kyshona.
