BY KEELIN EVERLY-LANG for WEEKLY VOLCANO | 10/2/2026
Ask Nakanée Fernandez about where she got her artist’s soul and she’ll tell you: “I was born of music love. That’s how I was born. I was born singing. My parents were singers. They met in Jazz Choir and then I came out the womb just humming a tune.”
If this story sounds like poetry, you’re not wrong. Fernandez is also a poet whose wordsmithing crosses artistic genres through lyrics and spoken word, and even weaves through her visual art. She taught herself guitar at age 14 and in 2021, she picked up a paintbrush.
Fernandez will be one of over 100 artists sharing their artistic process with the city during Tacoma Arts Month Studio Tours from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18.
A full directory of artists and map of the studio locations is available at Tacomaartsmonth.org/tacoma-studio-tour.
This will be Fernandez’s second time participating in the official studio tour, but she also hosted her own studio tour during Arts Month one year to share her art more informally.
This year she’ll be sharing space with other artists who don’t have a studio they can share with the public for a pop-up experience at 827 N. Tacoma Ave. Visitors can park on Tacoma Ave., enter through the main door, then follow signs to the Great Hall for the studio gallery.
Each artist is providing some kind of interactive experience this year, whether that is the opportunity to get hands-on experience trying a new art form or a live demonstration of their artistic process.
This year, Fernandez will be inviting guests to participate in a community painting and will have a typewriter available for some self-expression that will later find its way into a visual art piece.
While she was a self-described “nervous wreck” during the first studio tour, she said she learned a lot and had a great time. The support of Tacoma City staff, specifically Daniel Garcia, made her “feel confident participating in these because I know at the very least I can go to one person that’s going to help me very clearly and directly.”
Overall, it was a really positive experience and she’s looking forward to doing it again.
In addition to being a great way to connect with art and artists, it’s an opportunity to just get to know more people in Tacoma in general. Last time she participated, Fernandez said she ended up chatting and exchanging business cards with a woman who is a realtor and ended up calling her much later.
This relational quality, the importance of connection, and the ability to participate however you are inspired to do so are also qualities Fernandez appreciates about Tacoma’s art scene.
“That’s one of the coolest things about Tacoma. . .we really are community-oriented . . . you’re free to do what you want. That’s how we get Porchfest. That’s how we get Tacoma Studio Tours. It’s a good vibe,” Fernandez told Weekly Volcano.
For her pop-up art experience last year, Fernandez invited guests to experience a series of paintings narrated by live poetry performance. Each painting contains multiple layers that can only be seen under different light.
This love for the multisensory also expands to the pieces themselves, which, unlike most paintings, are meant to be touched so viewers can experience the texture of the work.
Another thread that weaves its way through all of her work is the desire to contribute to making the world a better place.
Her work touches on themes of global justice, including a recent series supporting a free Palestine, as well as work that expresses her passion for combating climate change and supporting a healthy relationship with our natural environment.
Fernandez is on the board of directors for 350 Tacoma and balances her time between community activism, her day job as a project manager, creating art, time with friends, and a lot of time spent reading.
In a 2022 conversation on the We Art Tacoma podcast, Fernandez shared her thoughts about art, activism, poetry, and making change. At the time she said she believes that art can change the world. While she still stands by that sentiment, her perspective has deepened and expanded since then.
“It’s not that art can’t change the world, just that you have to be cognizant of the limitations that a single thing can do . . . So that means that I get to do art, but I also need to pay attention to other things and opportunities that will help me contribute to changing the world in the way that I want,” Fernandez said.
These limitations “really force you to reckon with the fact that you cannot change the world alone,” Fernandez said, adding that changing the world alone is actually not something that anyone can or should do, because change is something that ultimately happens in partnership with other people.
While preparing for the studio tours, Fernandez has also recently written an entire album of music and is shopping around for a publisher for a sci-fi novel she’s written (the first in a trilogy).
Science fiction and the exploration of other worlds and possibilities are strong themes in her works, which you’ll definitely feel if you get the chance to experience one of her multimedia art experiences that combine light, art, poetry, and a guided journey through another realm.
Fernandez will also be selling art at Arts at the Armory from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, November 14 and Sunday, November 15. She runs Moon Spice Studios and can also be found on Substack if you don’t see her at an upcoming Tacoma Arts Month event.
ON THE COVER: “Free Human – Prayer Number 1” acrylic on canvas painting by Nakanée Fernandez.
