Best Visual Artist

The son of a gun went and closed his gallery, so we may not get so many chances to see his work around T-town, but David Goldberg remains, in my humble opinion, the best visual artists working in Tacoma today.

There’s nothing flashy about his work. He’s not on the cutting edge. In fact, his work reminds me of abstract painters from the early part of the past century. But I don’t know anyone else in town with such a firm grasps of the elementary principles of color and design and visual space and surface tension.

There is strength of conviction in Goldberg’s paintings. You get the feeling when looking at his work that he has an innate love of paint, its viscosity and the way it flows from brush to canvas, and his love of paint rubs off on the viewer. You want to touch the surface of his paintings. He makes you love red for its redness and white for its whiteness. — Alec Clayton

Best Solo Art Show

Picking the best solo show seemed a daunting task until I actually scrolled through my saved files of art reviews and saw the name Cory Ryman. Wow. That did it. No-brainer. An up-and-coming New York artist with roots in Tacoma and a deep understanding of contemporary art, Ryman is a natural successor to his artist parents Robert Ryman and Merrill Wagner. Elements of both their work could be seen in his painted constructions shown at the William Traver Gallery. They were hip, exciting, deceptively simple and solidly designed, and his subtle use of fiery colors is absolutely astounding.

Ryman’s 17-foot wide construction, Wave, melded a disorienting and undulating Richard Serra-like movement of solid form with surprising color effects. His art is abstract art as it should be. It is also really nice to see Traver break out of the confines of glass art from time to time. — AC

[William Traver Gallery, 1821 Dock St., Tacoma, 253.383.3685]

Best Big Museum Show

I never would have believed I’d find myself saying this, but my choice for best big museum show comes down to a tie between two masters: Lino Tagliapietra at the Museum of Glass and Pierre Auguste Renoir at Tacoma Art Museum. I never would have believed it because 1) I’m sick and tired of the whole over-hyped glass art movement and 2) Renoir is not exactly my favorite of the French Impressionists. But both of these shows are knockouts. By the way, you can still see the Tagliapietra show, through Aug. 24, but the Renoir show is gone.

Both shows included a wide range of work in similar themes and styles, showing how these masters think and work and how skillfully they master line, form and color, whether in print media of hot glass. Both shows also give us glimpses into their discipline and work ethic. Great art doesn’t come easily. — AC

[Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock St., Tacoma, 253.396.1768]

[Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]

Best Art Gallery

Please don’t make me pick a best gallery in Tacoma. It’s not fair. They all deserve my praise. Well, maybe not all. Besides, my track record is terrible. Every time I even think a gallery might be the best in town it goes out of business. I’m a jinx. The last seven galleries I showed in went kaput right after my shows.

OK, if I must pick I’m going to have to pick a new gallery as potentially the best, considering that they haven’t been around long enough to fairly judge. With that disclaimer in mind, I pick Fulcrum Gallery on Hilltop Tacoma. Currently they have a group show of contemporary glass.  If you’re going to check them out, you might want to call first because their open hours are limited. — AC

[Fulcrum Gallery, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]

Best Art News

The return of the Tollbooth Gallery is the most welcome news for Tacoma area art enthusiasts. Granted, many of the exhibits in this strange little kiosk gallery were not up to expectations, but they were certainly different, and it was the only venue for film art and wheat paste art T-town ever had.

Calling themselves “the world’s smallest gallery dedicated exclusively to video and paper based fine arts,” the Tollbooth Gallery was a stand-alone kiosk next to the Woolworth building on Broadway that featured short films by some of the area’s (and the world’s) best film artists. They quit doing shows when founders Michael Lent and Jared Pappas-Kelly left town a little over a year ago. But now they’re back with HONKY TONKIN’, a video and mixed-media installation about a hillbilly music star, by Justin Colt Beckman. Yu can see it anytime, 24/7 through Aug. 15 at the corner of Broadway and 11th Street in downtown Tacoma. — AC

Best Actor Or Actress

Scott C. Brown is sort of the Nicholas Cage of South Sound theater. He simply seems to drown himself in the complexities of the character to the point that when he emerges from his rehearsals it is difficult to know for sure where the character begins and where the real Brown ends. That’s true whether he is playing a master composer battling with his inner demons once he sees the true greatness in Mozart the way he did in Amadeus or while playing a rebel without a cause in an insane asylum. When asked to bring it, Brown brings it. All this and he manages to ride motorcycles, smoke the occasional cigar and dress like he lost his way back in the Middle Ages. — Steve Dunkelberger

Best Theater Company

Tacoma Musical Playhouse rocks it more often than not and knows how to pack in audiences with its stagings of all things musical theater. What was once fare for elderly couples and their grandchildren looking for afternoons at the theater has become a regional powerhouse of talent and production. The stage may be small, but the theater always seems to make it work with cast sizes that span the alphabet. The theater gets bonus points for the addition of its children’s theater program that makes everyone smile by the time they leave the theater. The only things wrong with TMP are that the theater is too small and its shows sell out too quickly. — SD

[Tacoma Musical Playhouse, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]

Best Drama

While Tacoma Little Theater continues its reconstruction following an administrative shuffle, it managed to stage a solid work this season when it raised the curtain on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the story of a man with troubles. Brick Pollitt (wonderfully played by Peter Punzi) is a former athlete who would rather wallow in what was than face the life ahead. It is his father’s birthday, a fact that escapes him. Big Daddy (Elliot Weiner) is dying of cancer while he is preparing to blow out his candles, so talk of death is in the air. Brick is the favored son, but not only has he visibly fallen into alcoholism, he has failed to have children. The show was riveting as it unraveled into a personal struggle. Good stuff. — SD

[Tacoma Little Theatre, 210 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281]

Best Stage Comedy

I didn’t think I was going to like Auntie Mame at Tacoma Little Theatre as much as I did. I had seen the show a few years ago at a different theater, and it didn’t wow me the way I wanted to be wowed. So when I saw it on my-shows-to-watch list this season, I sighed and set out to go to “work” instead of to a day of entertainment. TLT served up a damn good show. Auntie Mame chronicles the days of a young boy named Patrick Dennis (played by Caleb Wilkerson). The “properly raised” Chicago boy finds himself in New York City after his father dies and wills Patrick’s care to his sister, Mame Dennis. Mame (played by South Sound theater veteran Sharry O’Hare) could best be described as eclectic. It was a great show. — SD

[Tacoma Little Theatre, 210 N. I St., Tacoma, 253.272.2281]

Best Musical

Miss Saigon at Tacoma Musical Playhouse wasn’t the best musical of the season because it involved hot ladies dancing around in swimsuits and pasties; it was great because of the music, the acting, the staging and the voices. OK, the hot chicks didn’t hurt. The anchor of the show was my favorite actor, Micheal O’Hara as the half Vietnamese-half French brothel owner. Not only does he have a set of pipes that are the sorts musical legends are made of, but his nuanced acting style deserves accolades as well. He is simply a complete package. He becomes the characters he portrays. And he is a heck of a nice guy too. — SD

[Tacoma Musical Playhouse, 7116 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.565.6867]

Best Rising Star Theater Star

This is a bittersweet award since the rising star of South Sound theater is leaving the area for the Emerald City in the fall because Tacoma is proving too frustrating and unsupportive of its efforts. The Northwest Playwrights Alliance will still partner with the University of Puget Sound to stage the Double Shot Festival, but its free monthly staged readings of local works are heading to Seattle where the playwrights’ group has signed a deal for free rent and marketing  support from Seattle Rep. The $80 a month rent for its space at Tacoma’s Broadway Center for the Performing Arts translates to money the nonprofit would rather not spend it if doesn’t have to, and it doesn’t with the Seattle offer. So it won’t starting in September. Good-bye, folks; we wish you well. — SD

Most Knowledgeable Video Staff

You will not find this caliber of employee at any chain video rental. The men and women behind the counter at Stadium Video are hand picked by owner Marty Campbell for their near freakish understanding of the American masterpiece; the feature film. This is the only store I have been into that is willing to critique what I bring to the counter. “Are you sure you want to watch that?” and “Really?” are two actual replies to my lame attempts at getting a few hours worth of banal image ingestion. These people need me to enjoy myself in front of my television. Filled with stories of the worlds behind the films and the facts that make following an actor or director fun, Stadium has the crew that deserves a film of their very own. It’s a documentary, I’m calling it, “Mental Rentals.” — Daniel Blue

[Stadium Video, 29 N. Tacoma Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.1190]

Best Place To Take Mom On A Date

What mom doesn’t enjoy a good foreign film or indie flick? I think it has something to do with passing placenta that makes appreciating a quality piece of art even easier. And what you’re going to find on your date with mom, and at The Grand Cinema, is a great historic venue with superb (and often changing) selections of handpicked films. Mom will be proud that you’re supporting the community and giving money to a volunteer-run nonprofit. Parking is free next door during show times, so next time you have to borrow money from mom you can count on having to ask for a little less. — Steph DeRosa

[The Grand Cinema, 606 Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, 253.593.4474]

READERS' POLL RESULTS 2008

BEST LOCAL COMEDIAN: Debbie Wooten

BEST LOCAL THEATER GROUP: Broadway Center

BEST LOCAL ACTOR: Jason Ganwich

BEST NORTHWEST BOOK YOU LAST READ: King of Methlehem

BEST RADIO TALK-SHOW HOST: Adam Corolla, KNDD 107.7FM

BEST PUBLIC ART: Bridge of Glass

BEST ART GALLERY IN TACOMA: The Helm

BEST FREE ADVICE: Mom

BEST FREE SERVICE: Tacoma Link

BEST CHEAP DATE: The Red Hot

BEST TWO-FER: “That’s gross” and other sex-related answers.

BEST PLACE TO BUY A USED CAR IN TACOMA: Gene Pankey Motors

BEST PLACE TO SEE A FREE CONCERT: Farmers market

BEST THRIFT STORE: Value Village

BEST PAWNSHOP: Hill-Top Loans

BEST NEIGHBORHOOD FOR YARD SALES: North Tacoma

BEST ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT IN TACOMA: India Mahal