It was a great kick off for a one-of-a-kind event in Ruston tonight. About 100 visitors came down (or stopped as they drove or jogged by) to view 21 unique paintings on Adirondack chairs. 21 chairs to celebrate June 21st, the first day of summer.
About of a third of the chairs have already sold, with opening bids from $150 to $275. The chairs with more than one interested party were able to offer more than the opening bid, with the top chair so far selling for $600. Net proceeds go to Ruston Arts and Parks for new art projects in the Ruston-North Tacoma area. The local business district was able to arrange for Tacoma Neighborhoods Together, the charitable arm of the business districts, to serve as a tax deductible umbrella for both the donations from the artists and the chair purchasers.
Ginger and Lucy report there is even more interest from the arts community, so expect an even greater variety of chairs next time. The dynamic duo has not decided yet when they will organize the next event, but given the interest it may become an annual event. Look for news stories coming up in The News Tribune and the Tacoma Weekly soon.
The chairs will be on display daily until at least Thursday, and hopefully most the new owners will loan their new art piece through the Taste of Tacoma. It would be nice to have something beautiful for all those out-of-towners to see when they stroll through town this weekend.
8 comments:
I think this could grow into something Big. Thanks Ginger,Lucy and Ruston/Pt Defiance BD. What a Pearl we have here in our Town.
Now brace yourself for the dreaded Waste of Tacoma.Garbage bags at the ready!
Maybe it could grow into something big, but your photos look nothing like the 100 people you claim stopped by. Why wouldn't you take a photo (or ask one of the people who was monitoring the exhibit) at projected peak visit times and print it?
This is a very odd piece. Good to be hopeful, but base your statements on what people can believe. Your shots don't agree with your figures. Signed, Puzzled
The 'dreaded Waste of Tacoma'? Not very gracious comment when volunteers work just as hard, if not harder, than the Ruston artists, to make the Taste the very successful and appealing event it is. Plus, many more people in Ruston enjoy the Taste than dislike it and willingly take a few minutes to clean up the area in front of their houses after it's over.
Please, a little more civility and an attitude that's a little less exclusive, Anon.
In answer to Anonymous #2, I was only giving a rough estimate and not trying to use the photos to prove how accurate my estimate was. Bear in mind the photos show only about a third of the display area and the event lasted two hours. There were many folks in and out over that two hour period.
If you are puzzled about attendance figures without firm evidence, I encourage you to attend yourself next time ~ perhaps you can give a better estimate and maybe even have pictures to prove your point :)
Well, Ruston Home, the burden of proof is not on me, as I didn't make the statement; you did.
This isn't really a contest about proving you're right, though; it's a reminder that what you post on your blogs, you own. Your posts create impressions that reflect your credibility as well as your opinion. That's all.
I have to agree with the first Anon.
The taste is ok during the early hours with the family. After 6pm it turns into a drunkin mean mess.
You have all seen, heard and read about the various incidents around here.Maybe it would be better if it were held at Wright Park.
Anyone at the Parks Dept reading?
I was there for the earlier part of the event. The Police officers even came in earlier than scheduled because it was starting to get crowded. There was very close to 100 people, if not more. Maybe not at any given time, but throughout the whole event I'm sure we broke that number. Who cares if the number is accurate. Stop nitpicking and realize it was an exciting event for Ruston as a whole.
I noticed that among those who criticized the Taste of Tacoma's effect on Ruston, plenty have been waving signs advertising their properties as parking spaces for a fee. Not so much a 'waste of Tacoma', it seems if there's money involved. Someone was even trying to make money selling lemonade. Now that was funny; but good luck, anyway, to all you 'entrepreneurs'. You are the ones encouraging people traffic through the town with their garbage, animal doo doo, and parking congestion. It wouldn't be possible if there weren't a Taste of Tacoma.
Personally, I think the Taste of Tacoma is an event that's great fun, but shouldn't we recognize our annexation of Ruston to the 'Taste' event? We can avoid the political implication by calling it the Taste of Ruston next year.
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