Tacoma Art Museum is giving visitors a chance to become part of the creative process. Drawing Room opens Saturday, October 10, transforming a museum gallery into a hands-on drawing studio. The exhibition combines viewing artwork with making it, inviting visitors to explore how drawing works through their own attempts.
Organized by TAM and curated by Ellen Ito, the exhibition features more than 40 works from the museum’s collection. They span the late 19th century through 2017 and include pieces by Morris Graves, Akio Takamori and Lynda Barry. That range puts more than a century of artistic approaches into the same exhibition.
The intriguing part is the connection between what’s on display and what visitors might discover through drawing themselves. Looking closely at a line or shape can prompt a different kind of attention when you’re trying to make one, too. For anyone whose drawing habit has dwindled to occasional doodles, it offers a reason to revisit that creative impulse.
Art-making already has a home elsewhere in the museum. TAM Studio, located in the lobby next to the museum store, offers supplies and activities for visitors of all ages, interests and abilities. That separate space is free to use without museum admission, making it another option for families or anyone who wants to spend some time creating.
TAM is at 1701 Pacific Avenue and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with extended hours until 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Regular admission is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors 65 and older, and $10 for ages 6–18; members enter free. Thursday admission is free from 5–8 p.m., making October 15 the first free Thursday evening after Drawing Room opens. Find exhibition information on TAM’s upcoming exhibitions page.
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