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For the last twenty-seven years, Dr. Paul-Elliott Cobbs has been the Music Director of the Tacoma Youth Symphony Association and conductor of the Tacoma Youth Symphony. The beloved maestro is retiring at the end of the 2023-2024 season. On Saturday, May 18, TYSA will celebrate Dr. Cobbs and bid him a warm farwell in a concert featuring Verdi’s Overture to “La forza del destino”, student soloist Caleb Brumfield in Hoffmeister’s Viola Concerto in D Major, student soloist Alia Uffenorde in Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in D minor, and William Walton’s Spitfire Prelude and Fugue. TYSA alumni will also honor Dr. Cobbs as they join the orchestra for an encore performance of Holst’s Jupiter.

Dr. Cobbs’ lifelong friends and colleagues, Carrie Rehkopf and John Michel, will perform Johannes Brahms’ Double Concerto for Violin and Cello.

Tickets are on sale now! To purchase tickets go to: www.tysamusic.org.

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Today, Hilltop Artists alumni can be found in hot shops around the world, at prestigious art schools, and even on every season of a reality TV show about glassblowing. They’re also teachers, techies, welders, gardeners, writers, make-up artists, and professionals in a whole host of fields unrelated to glass. From the beginning, Hilltop Artists’ founders knew that art had the power to engage young people in significant ways that would positively impact their lives, no matter where they landed.

Launched in the summer of 1994, Hilltop Artists started with just 20 students in a former woodshop at Jason Lee Junior High (now named Hilltop Heritage Middle School). The early 90s marked a period of unrest that made national news and Hilltop Artists emerged as part of a community-led effort to give young people in the Hilltop neighborhood a safe place to go during summer break.

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Gallery owner and Hilltop parent, Kathy Kaperick, partnered with Tacoma-born glass artist Dale Chihuly to establish a program that would provide local teens with arts instruction taught by established artists. They explored a variety of sculptural mediums, including glass. Lacking proper equipment, they simply heated up Snapple bottles and reshaped them to make something new.

Recognizing the viability and allure of what they started, Hilltop Artists and Tacoma Public Schools developed a partnership that led to the growth of two hot shops over the next several years. Hilltop Heritage now boasts a world class glass art studio that not only sustains the use of up to 170 students a day, but also regularly hosts internationally renowned artists who come to inspire students and the public-alike through Hot Shop Hot Nights - a new iteration of the artist residencies that helped start Hilltop Artists decades ago.

Serving over 600 students a year, ages 12 to 26, Hilltop Artists continues to provide young people with a safe space to grow and thrive. Hilltop Artists’ tuition-free programs use leading youth development practices to welcome students from diverse backgrounds and connect them with tools for social and academic success.

As noted by Syd Bersante, Hilltop Artists Board President, “Hilltop Artists does more than teach our youth the art of glassblowing. It teaches critical thinking, communication, and teamwork. Those problem-solving skills are invaluable to our youth’s development, and to their ability to be successful both now and later in life. As a leader in business, I believe building vocational and interpersonal skills are important. The way Hilltop Artists instills these skills compelled me to join the board and contribute my time and resources.”

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Even as Hilltop Artists has gained national and international recognition, Hilltop Artists remains deeply rooted in the local community. It is involved in partnerships with the Museum of Glass, Tacoma Public Libraries, Pierce County Juvenile Court, and Communities for a Healthy Bay, and is a member of the Arts & Culture Coalition of Pierce County and the Imagine Justice Project. Hilltop Artists played a key role in getting the initial Tacoma Creates cultural access tax initiative passed in 2018 and is on the steering committee for its renewal in 2025. Hilltop Artists is instrumental in taking action for the arts and the youth of Tacoma and Pierce County.

Hilltop Artists Executive Director Dr. Kimberly F. Keith grew up just a few blocks away from Hilltop Heritage Middle School. “Hilltop Artists is in my neighborhood. I wish it had been here when I was a kid. At our core we’re a youth development organization teaching social and life skills through the team-based craft of glassblowing. The process encourages young people to communicate, express themselves, and build relationships while engaged in making art. Those skills help our students grow into community members we want to live next door to and into our leaders of tomorrow. That’s what participation in the arts can do for young people, for all of us really.”

Hilltop Artists will be celebrating its 30th Anniversary throughout the year. Please visit hilltopartists.org to learn more about upcoming events and ways to connect.

Related Events:

🔥Hot Shop Hot Nights with Hilltop Artists Alumni

Friday May 10, 2024 // 5pm to 8pm

Collaborative intergenerational showcase of Hilltop Artists talent!

🔥Hilltop Artists Exhibition at Bainbridge Island Museum of Art

Thursday June 13 through Sunday June 30, 2024

10am to 5pm daily

Hilltop Artists and the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art present a special exhibition celebrating 30 years of Hilltop Artists! See work from artists throughout our history, coinciding with the BIMA Treasure Trek (featuring glass floats made by our very own Hilltop Artists and hidden throughout the Kitsap Peninsula).

🔥Hilltop Artists BIMA Exhibition Opening Party

Saturday June 22, 2024 // 5pm to 8pm

Celebrate the opening of our pop-up exhibition at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art with a party featuring the alumni and artists from the show.

🔥Hilltop Artists Residency at Museum of Glass

Wednesday July 31 through Sunday August 4, 2024

10am to 5pm daily

Join us for a special opportunity to see the Hilltop Artists team collaborate live on the hot shop floor at the Museum of Glass! Our residency with MoG is your chance to see the creation of stunning centerpieces for our annual Better Futures Luncheon fundraiser.

🔥Hilltop Artists Arts Night Out Block Party

Tuesday August 6, 2024 // 4pm to 7pm

Join us for special alumni recognition!*

🔥Hilltop Artists Better Futures Luncheon

Tuesday October 1, 2024 // 10:30am to 1:30pm

Featuring limited-edition 30th Anniversary centerpieces!

🔥Winter Glass Pre-Sale Soiree

Friday December 6, 2024 // 6pm to 8pm

With anniversary-themed signature ornaments!

🔥Winter Glass Sale

Saturday December 7, 2024 // 10am to 1pm

With anniversary-themed signature ornaments!

30th Anniversary Alumni Mixer

Thursday, December 19, 2024 // 3pm to 5pm

🔥🔥🔥Learn more event details by visiting: hilltopartists.org

🔥About Hilltop Artists 🔥

Founded in 1994, Hilltop Artists is a youth development organization that seeks to engage young people through the medium of glass art. We teach glassblowing and related arts to 600 Pierce County youth, ages 12-25, each year. We support students to explore their creativity, connect to school and with their peers, and to become leaders in their community.

With two glass hot shops located at Tacoma’s Hilltop Heritage Middle School and Silas High School, we offer daytime glass art elective classes, after-school, evening, and summer programs. We offer a leadership program for advanced students, vocational training for alumni aged 18+, and arts engagement for justice-involved girls with the Pierce County Juvenile Court. Most of our glass art instructors are alumni who started with us in middle or high school.

We prioritize students farthest from educational justice and mentor youth so they may achieve their full potential. Our Outreach Services Manager provides basic needs support and referrals related to housing, food security, health, education, and advocacy needs. All services are tuition-free, and any young person may participate regardless of past behavior, attendance, grades, disabilities, or artistic talent.

Named Washington State Organization of the Year in 2020, Hilltop Artists is recognized as one of our nation's most effective arts and youth development organizations. We work to improve high school graduation and college enrollment rates and to build public appreciation and excitement around glass arts. We engage thousands of community members each year through partnerships, public events, installations, and exhibits.

*If you or someone you know is a Hilltop Artists alumni, please visit hilltopartists.org/alumni so we can get connected!

[image] youth camp

After a four-year pandemic pause, Tacoma Youth Theatre is excited to be back in operation, just in time for summer camps! Thank you to everyone who donated to our reopening campaign! Please spread the word about these camps.

SUMMER CAMPS NOW REGISTERING Open Enrollment, NO AUDITIONS

Summer Camp productions are perfect for both beginning and practiced young actors, Tacoma Youth Theatre’s all-day, one-week theatre camps nurture and empower through the collaborative joy of bringing each story to life on stage. Young actors will each have their own speaking, vital role in the non-musical production and be proud to welcome friends and family to pay-what-you-can performances at the week’s end.

Registration Link

https://www.tacomayouththeatre.org/product-category/summer-2024/

Help us ensure that our program is a good fit for each young person participating. If this is your young person’s first experience at Tacoma Youth Theatre, click here for our camp readiness guidelines.

Pay-What-You-Can Tuition is always an option. You can call the theatre at 253-677-0531 to make any payment arrangement and register over the phone. Please Click here more information about Pay-What-You-Can Tuition.

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🎭 2024 SUMMER CAMPS

🦁THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

June 24 - June 30

Rehearsals: June 24 - June 28, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on June 29 & 30 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

🍄ALICE IN WONDERLAND

July 8 - July 16

Rehearsals: July 8 - July 14, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on July 15 & 16 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

💍THE HOBBIT

July 15 - July 21

Rehearsals: July 15 - 19, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on July 20 & 21 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

👑THE SNOW QUEEN

July 29 - August 4

Rehearsals: July 29 - August 2, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on August 3 & 4 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

🧚PETER PAN

August 5 - 11

Rehearsals: August 5 - 9, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on August 10 & 11 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

💍THE HOBBIT

August 19 - 25

Rehearsals: August 19 - 23, Monday through Friday, from 9am-4pm

Performances on August 24 & 25 at 2pm (Actors arrive at noon)

Registration Link

https://www.tacomayouththeatre.org/product-category/summer-2024/

[image] poetry

By US Updates

The Northwest Room is home to a diverse collection of poetry, providing a unique perspective on the region's cultural and historical background. A key feature is the Laureate Listening Project, led by Tacoma Poet Laureate Lucas Smiraldo from 2013 to 2015. This project includes audio recordings of community members sharing their experiences of specific places through poetry.

Another significant piece is Mayor John Linck’s poem, “By the Flickering Light of a Fading Fire”. This poem, discovered in his papers, reflects on the transience of life and the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

The collection also contains the Tacoma Mountaineers Records, a scrapbook from 1912 to 1916. It includes photographs of mountaineering adventures and poems written by club members, many of whom were women. These poems celebrate adventure, friendship, and nature.

The Northwest Room also stores recordings of the Tacoma Public Library's Book Notes radio program, which aired on KTNT radio on Sundays from the 1950s to the 1970s. The program included book reviews, oral histories, interviews, and poetry readings. Poets such as Michael Stowe and Marietta Conway Kennard can be heard reading their poems.

Finally, the 'Tacoma — Poetry' Clipping files provide a snapshot of the local poetry scene, with articles, pamphlets, programs, and flyers about poetry and poets. The files contain profiles of past Tacoma poet laureates like Kellie Richardson and William J. Kupinse, as well as poems published in local newspapers since the late 1930s. The Northwest Room also has a large collection of local poetry books, featuring works by poets such as Duane Niatum, Alice Rollit Coe, and William W. Chance.

Explore the poetry within the collections in Northwest Room! Click Here for some of our favorite highlights.

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Presented at the University of Puget Sound to benefit Tahoma Bird Alliance

This second in a series of tri-annual art & field sessions builds awareness.

Attendees will learn:

• how seeing Nature through art can lead to better birding, and

• how knowledge of urban birds and landscape prac8ces help each of us

build more sustainable landscapes that help birds survive.

Pre-registration required by 05/17/24

9:00 – 11:30 am Walk-about

Join several experts on the UPS campus to identify birds, plants, and sustainable landscape practices. Leaders will also address effective use of birding tools as we tour the UPS campus looking at which urban birds are present during peak migration; what plants they are using; and how the landscape can be shaped to benefit birds.

1:30 – 3:30 pm Presentation by Molly Hashimoto

Molly Hashimoto will offer a slide presentation and on-stage art demonstration.

She’ll also have her books available for purchase after the presentation.

Registration & details at: https://www.tahomabirdalliance.org/adult-classes

Event Fee: TBA Members & Students: $40; Non-Members $50

[image] bazaar

Beezlebubs Bazaar is a traveling art bazaar for the dark and wicked.

May 12th

2pm-7pm

Overkill Lounge (21+)

5214 S Tacoma Way

Beelzebub's Bazaar is bringing you all the strange and unusual artists who create hand made spooky good.

Keeping on theme of Everyday is Halloween!

There will be taxidermy, wet specimens, oddities, curiosities, jewelry, apparel, divination tools, crystals, tarot, illustrations, prints, home decor, and more!!

Artists:

TBA

IG: https://www.instagram.com/beelzebubsbazaar

TT: https://www.tiktok.com/@beelzebubsbazaar

[image] Benny

Benny Benack’s most recent album, “Third Time’s a Charm,” hit #2 on International Jazz Charts for multiple weeks and he was featured in the Downbeat polls for both vocals AND trumpet! His duo partner is local great Dylan Hayes who is taking the Seattle scene by storm - this is his JazzVox debut! Two concerts in one day - come join the party!

Location/Specifics: For Exact address, following purchase see your Order Confirmation email from Eventbrite and scroll to the very bottom section "Additional Information". Note - it shows up best on mobile device emails. Let me know if you have questions (jazz@jazzvox.com / 206-963-2430)

Refund policy: Due to the intimate nature of these events, Up to 7 days before the concert, you may cancel and request a refund. Within 7 days, please feel free to find someone to come (instead of you) and email/text me to change the name on the guest list. As it gets close to the concert, it is difficult to get the word out to find potential replacement concertgoers / adjust for food preparation / etc.

Note: Eventbrite fees are not refundable.

Other thoughts: Food is provided (think more than nibbles but less than an all you can eat buffet). New this year, I'm asking homeowners to pull (new) plates about 15 mins before the performance so people are finished and we focus on the performance. Affordable beverages also provided - have a personal favorite? Bring it with you and share if you'd like! Allergic to cats? Have handicapable needs? Ask Nich about the specific home. Ages 14+ only please (and under 18 accompanied by an adult). Please arrive odor neutral - colognes/perfumes can overwhelm some concertgoers. Other questions? Let me know! (jazz@jazzvox.com / 206-963-2430).

There is a General Admission Donation that must be purchased on Eventbrite to attend of $47.00 + a small transaction fee.

This is an intimate house concert, tickets can be purchased on Eventbrite, for either 2:00 PM or 8:00 PM – click times for link to Eventbrite.

For more information about JazzVox and their House Concerts click here.

Also visit https://jazzvox.com to learn more about other upcoming House Concerts.

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[image] art1

Tacoma Art Museum Announces Ambitious and Expansive [re]Frame Exhibitions

What is the art of the American West? The answer is more expansive than you might imagine. Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is pleased to announce that [re]Frame: Haub Family Collection of Western American Art, a major reinstallation of the Haub Family Galleries, will open on May 18, 2024. The [re]Frame project meaningfully expands on the stories and perspectives about the art of the American West by opening four brand new exhibitions developed by notable guest curators from around the country who draw inspiration from TAM’s Haub Family Collection.

The Haub Family Collection of Western American Art is one of the highlights of a visit to TAM. The important collection includes approximately 250 works that span the 20th century, with remarkable works from 18th, 19th, and 21st centuries, as well. “The Haub Family Collection has a strong reputation in the Pacific Northwest and beyond, as it includes exceptional paintings and sculptures,” says Andy Maus, executive director of Tacoma Art Museum. “We have been building on this legacy gift in order to prepare for four new exhibitions that will deepen our understanding of the art of the region and provide exemplary leadership for other museums with similar permanent collections.”

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The four new exhibitions will open in the Haub Family Galleries and invite visitors to connect with art from and about many important communities in the American West, including Indigenous communities in the southwest and specifically Genízaro communities, the Chinese American experience, and artists in the African and Arab diasporas.

The four new exhibitions are on long-term view at Tacoma Art Museum:

• Finding Home: The Chinese American West on view from May 18, 2024—September 5, 2027;

• Blackness is… the Refusal to be Reduced will be on view from May 18, 2024—March 14, 2027;

• Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved on view from May 18, 2024—September 6, 2026; and

• The Abiqueños and The Artist on view from May 18, 2024—May 31, 2026.

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The four separate and distinct exhibitions individually explore a range of important themes about the American West, and in so doing the Haub Family Galleries will demonstrate how western art can be more inclusive of diverse narratives. “The Haub Family Collection of Western American Art provides a wonderful starting point for considering art and ideas about the American West,” stated Faith Brower, Haub Curator of Western American Art. “By pairing the Haub Family Collection with additional artworks, as selected by the guest curators, we can broaden the meaning and relevance of the collection for visitors today.”

The four exhibitions combined will present artwork by 17 contemporary artists who have not often been considered in the context of the art of the American West. “The art of the American West is not static,” said Brower “there are many artists creating work that will further our understanding and deepen our connections to this iconic region.”

Select artists featured:

• Lele Barnett’s exhibition Finding Home: The Chinese American West will present a newly commissioned 65-foot site-specific mural created by Seattle-based artist Monyee Chau that will be paired with a large painted scroll by Zhi Lin, along with artwork from the Haub Family Collection.

• Nikesha Breeze is presenting the work of six contemporary artists in Blackness is… the Refusal to be Reduced that includes a range of media from paintings, drawing, and sculpture to site-specific installations and film.

• Maymanah Farhat’s exhibition Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved will include six artists from the Arab diaspora along with other contemporary work from the museum’s permanent collection, also highlighting a range of mediums including paintings, sculpture, photography, textiles, and more.

• Dr. Patricia Marroquin Norby’s exhibition The Abiqueños and The Artist features two disparate artists, Russel Albert Daniels and Georgia O’Keeffe, in a riveting dialogue.

Tacoma Art Museum’s Haub Family Galleries will be closed in early 2024 to prepare for the major reinstallation. The Haub Family Galleries will open with four new exhibitions on May 18, 2024, in anticipation of the 10-year anniversary of the Haub Family Galleries in November 2024. All exhibitions in the [re]Frame project are organized by Tacoma Art Museum and funded in part by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

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Exhibition descriptions:

Finding Home: The Chinese American West honors the Chinese immigrants of the American West. The exhibition touches on the history of racism and violence against the Chinese in America—specifically Tacoma’s exclusionary past—but it also offers artists’ views into Chinese immigrants finding a sense of home and hope. The exhibition will explore the spiritual, the mythical, and the laborious path of these seekers of the American dream in a counter-narrative to the conventional picture of America’s history. Finding Home: The Chinese American West is guest curated by Lele Barnett.

The exhibition Blackness is… the Refusal to be Reduced focuses on contemporary art that explores intertwined concepts of materiality, the body, memory, and resilience. The exhibition centers Blackness, offering a counternarrative to the homogenous story often told in museums, making visible the often invisible with ephemeral materials and conceptual works by contemporary Black western art and artists. Blackness is… the Refusal to be Reduced is guest curated by Nikesha Breeze.

Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved features a group of artists identifying with the Arab diaspora who live and work in the western United States and are drawn to landscapes that are as dramatic and ancient as those found in their own homelands. These artists, however, complicate traditional representations of the region, acknowledging and resisting its settler-colonial history, thus deepening our understanding of these places. Nepantla: The Land is the Beloved is guest curated by Maymanah Farhat.

The Abiqueños and The Artist examines Indigenous and non-Indigenous understandings of land and landscape in Abiquiú, New Mexico, through a provoking dialogue of works by the notable Diné and Ho-Chunk photographer Russel Albert Daniels and the eminent American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. Avéshu or Abiquiú is a place that American art scholars have consistently referred to as “O’Keeffe Country.” However, this region is the site of ancestral architecture, sacred sites, and important historical events for Genízaro peoples who have lived in this region for centuries, long before O’Keeffe arrived. In this exhibition, these disparate artworks are united to provide depictions of Abiquiú through different perspectives; together they work to convey a deeper understanding of the identities, aesthetics, and the intergenerational ties to Genízaro homelands. The Abiqueños and The Artist is guest curated by Dr. Patricia Marroquin Norby.

Guest Curator biographies:

Lele Barnett is an art advisor and independent curator based in Seattle, Washington. She has curated for Wing Luke Museum, Meta (previously Facebook) Open Arts, Microsoft Art Collection, and Starbucks Art Program. She was a Producer on Emerging Radiance, a recent project that combined art with Spark AR technologies, which won the Tribeca X Immersive Award at the Tribeca Festival New Voices Competition in 2022.

Working from a Global African Diasporic, Afro-Centric and Afro-Futurist perspective, Nikesha Breeze is an artist whose interdisciplinary work reimagines inter-generational traumatic inheritance through the intersection of art and ritual. Nikesha’s work centers Black, Brown, Indigenous, Queer and Earth bodies existing within realms of past, present, and future. Nikesha has shown work both nationally and internationally in museums, galleries, and art fairs across the globe, including a major sculptural installation at the new Freedom Monument Sculpture Park in Montgomery, Alabama.

Maymanah Farhat is an art historian, independent curator, and adjunct lecturer at California State University, Fresno. Her research and scholarship focus on underrepresented artists and forgotten art scenes. She has curated exhibitions at museums, galleries, and art spaces throughout the US and abroad, and has contributed to a wide range of art publications. Her work has been praised by Foreign Policy’s annual list of 100 Leading Global Thinkers and the Arab America Foundation.

Patricia Marroquin Norby, PhD (Purépecha) is the inaugural Associate Curator of Native American Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Her curatorial approach has garnered acclaim from the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, and Hyperallergic. Her forthcoming book, Water, Bones, and Bombs: 20th-Century Art and Environmental Conflicts in Northern New Mexico (University of Nebraska Press) examines art production and environmental issues concerning the American West.

Associated Programming

- Opening Event, Friday, May 17, from 7-9 p.m.

- Opening Program, Saturday, May 18

- Additional details and events will be announced at tacomaartmuseum.org and on social media.

Visit Tacoma Art Museum

Wednesday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Thursday 10 a.m.–8 p.m., free admission 5 p.m.–8 p.m.

Friday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Closed Monday and Tuesday

Contact: 253-272-4258 / www.tacomaartmuseum.org

Admission: $18 Adult, $15 Senior (65+), $15 Military (active duty or retired with ID), $10 (youth 6-18), free for TAM members

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Hot Shop Hot Nights with Hilltop Artists Alumni & Friends

Friday, May 10th, 2024

5 - 8 PM

The Hot Shop at Hilltop Heritage Middle School

Don't miss out on our next Hot Shop Hot Nights event! Mark your calendars for Friday, May 10 from 5 - 8 PM and RSVP for your complimentary tickets.⁠ Witness the mesmerizing world of glass art brought to life by our talented artists and students.⁠ Reservations are available now but nab those tickets soon! Hot Shop Hot Nights events are free for our community but seating is limited. Click here to reserve your tickets.

During their week-long residency, renowned artists from the glass community set up in our hot shop, creating their own works, sharing with our students about their processes and experiences, and collaborating with Hilltop Artists.

At Hot Shop Hot Nights, expect to see a professional glass artist working with and mentoring our advanced production students and alumni, creating spectacular collaborative pieces. The Gallery is open for shopping, and tea, hot cocoa, and coffee will be available.

Full event details are available on our website.