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Steam punks

Wayzgoose worked like a well-oiled machine this year—and that’s the way we like it.

(Even if we were just a little extra tired afterward.)

We were finally able to have the event in the parking lot next door, which allowed way more people to gather ’round the steamroller—and gave the artists more elbow room for spreading ink and chatting it up.

Steamroller prints by Ric Matthies (left) and Charles Wright Academy students (right)

The usual suspects were up to all kindsa good on Sunday—

Our print (left), Beautiful Angle (center), Maggie Roberts (right)

—and it was fun for Jessica and me to come back after a year off.

Photo by Victoria Bjorklund

This year, we added something a little different to the mix—just like we did in 2011 in San Francisco. After Jessica inked up the block…

Photo by Victoria Bjorklund

…and the steamroller packed its punch…

Photo by Victoria Bjorklund

…I set up shop across the parking lot, adding a few hand-colored touches to the piece.

Here’s the finished product—and for those of you who don’t happen to live in T-town, I’ll need to provide a little back-story. You probably recognize the reference to Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, but there’s a second tribute to pop artist Andy Warhol, as well. And I’m not just talking about Venus herself—to whom Warhol did pay homage in 1984.

You see, over thirty years ago now, Warhol was one of several artists to propose a permanent public artwork to adorn the roof of the Tacoma Dome. Not only was his proposal rejected at the time, but the whole project resulted in an enormous backlash of public opinion, insurance nightmares and political in-fighting—which literally derailed the city’s entire public art program for nearly two decades afterward. Fast-forward to today: not only is our public art program back in the saddle and going strong, but now there’s a growing movement to put Warhol’s flower on the Dome after all—which, in fact, would be the world’s largest Warhol original.

Whom do we have to thank for both the…uh…Renaissance of our public art program, and the push to bring Warhol back? Our wonderful City Arts Administrator, Amy McBride (click to see her talk about the Warhol story)—who, incidentally, drove the steamroller that printed our Venus linocut on Sunday.

How’s that for coming full-circle, huh?

Many thanks to everyone who stopped by on Sunday, and to Amy and the Tacoma Arts Commission for continuing to make art happen—both for Wayzgoose and for Tacoma.