BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO 6/5/26 |
Anyone who has enjoyed the rotating themed menus at Cook’s Tavern has probably also noticed the vibrant artwork that adorns the walls of the restaurant’s Proctor District location at 3201 N. 26th St. in Tacoma.
What many patrons may not know is that the pieces are all commissioned from local artists. Eight new works are created every four months and unveiled alongside each new menu.
At a time when many businesses are bypassing artists by using AI-generated imagery, this approach stands out.
The artists are given a canvas and a theme and then have about a month to create a large-scale painting. One recent example measured 30 by 40 inches.
“Cook’s is a neighborhood restaurant, and this is about giving back to the neighborhood,” Evening Supervisor Dan Dominguez told the Weekly Volcano.
Dominguez manages the art commissions and has worked at the restaurant for about five years. He said the artist program has been in place since Cook’s Tavern opened in 2016.
The opportunity to create work for the restaurant’s rotating global menu gave local artist Karen Danz the push she needed to paint a large-scale piece that ultimately earned her a spot in her first juried art exhibition.
“It got me to try out different techniques, because it was probably not something I would have picked otherwise, and yeah, it just felt good,” Danz said.
Danz grew up in Tacoma before spending time in Bellingham, where she earned a degree in fine arts from Western Washington University. Her path eventually led her back to Tacoma.
Her creativity has taken many forms throughout her life, particularly as a parent, but she said painting has not always been the most accessible creative outlet, especially when her two children were younger.
Having a deadline, theme, and large format for the Cook’s Tavern commissions has given her momentum to create and to “go big,” Danz said, while also helping her reconnect with painting in general.
“I had some big canvases sitting around, and I felt like I used to go bigger. But I don’t know, I got timid and was doing little stuff for a while,” Danz said.
That encouragement to work on a larger scale led her to create “Boss,” an acrylic-on-canvas portrait of her son playing video games. The piece measures 24 by 36 inches and was recently selected for the annual Arts Explosion juried art exhibition in Federal Way, which took place May 29–31.
Reminiscent of impressionist portraits such as Mary Cassatt’s Little Girl in a Blue Armchair (1878), “Boss” captures an unguarded moment of a young person at ease and immersed in his own world.
“If you know preteen boys, this is not an unusual pose, so it just feels like a little snapshot of him at this age,” Danz said.
“Painters forever have been painting modern life,” Danz said, adding that it is easy to forget that older paintings were once contemporary works because they now depict the past, making them appear dreamy and old-fashioned.
Taking a “silly quiet moment” of her son playing video games and enlarging it “makes it more significant,” Danz said.
The title carries a dual meaning, referring both to her son’s nickname and the possibility that he was in the midst of defeating a video-game boss when she captured the moment.
The portrait depicts a moment of external stillness while suggesting a dynamic and action-packed inner life unfolding within the game.
What viewers do not see is that, while the scene could be interpreted as showing a young person withdrawn from the world or focused solely on his own interests, it actually represents a moment of thoughtfulness and care.
“His older brother likes to have time to himself,” Danz explained. Although her younger son did not want to attend a scheduled soccer practice that would have given his brother that space, he suggested they leave the house anyway so his brother could have time alone.
That was what they were doing when the photograph that inspired the painting was taken.
“He’s always kind of thinking of other people,” Danz said, adding that his compassion and goofy sense of humor are two of her favorite things about him.
As her first juried exhibition, Danz said seeing her artwork on display was “surreal.”
Danz has spent most of her career in social services and currently works for the state in a division that supports services for homeless youth.
Before settling on a fine arts degree, she was pursuing a degree in mathematics.
While those fields may appear quite different, Danz sees a common thread in the emphasis on problem-solving and the challenge of finding creative solutions with limited resources.
Parenthood has provided many opportunities to express creativity in other ways, but creating large-scale paintings was difficult while raising young children.
“I work pretty slow, so there’s kind of a big mess out for long periods while I tinker,” Danz said.
Now that her sons are becoming more independent, she has found time to paint again and said it has felt rewarding to devote some energy to herself as an individual outside her role as a parent.
While Danz said she is not seeking a full-time career as an artist, she has enjoyed becoming more involved in Tacoma’s arts community.
Since creating work for Cook’s Tavern, she has begun attending figure-drawing meetups, connecting with other local artists, and exploring new opportunities. She said she has found the local arts community to be especially welcoming.
Danz has completed two pieces for Cook’s Tavern so far, one inspired by Morocco and the current painting celebrating Portugal.
Soon, she and seven other local artists will begin work on pieces for the restaurant’s next themed menu, which is scheduled to launch in July.
