I just found out that The Tacoma Art Museum is having a 75th anniversary. A few years ago the museum was remodeled and it is one of the best art museums around. They have great exhibits and an open art studio where museum goers can stop by and create artwork with the vast supplies that are in the open art studio. I really enjoy going there whenever I am down in Tacoma….Sundays are my favorite day to visit the museum. Check out the TAM sometime if you are ever in Tacoma.

Anyway, here is a little history about the TAM from their website:

75th Anniversary Founded in 1935, Tacoma Art Museum celebrates its 75th Anniversary in 2010. Check back for details about ways to help celebrate this momentous occasion. History Until 2003, Tacoma Art Museum had never inhabited a building that was designed and constructed especially for us. Since 1935, when we were founded as the Tacoma Art Association, we had adapted to buildings created for other, starting with The Tower at Jones Hall at the College of Puget Sound.

Jones Hall, College of Puget Sound, circa 1952. Photograph courtesy of Tacoma Public Library, Richards Studio Collection.

1935 – 1958
Jones Hall, College of Puget Sound. Jones Hall now houses the University of Puget Sound’s administrative offices.

1958 – 1963
A rented storefront gallery space at 742 Broadway, currently a martial arts studio.

1963 – 1971
The Allied Arts Center (also known as “The Old Jailhouse”) at 621 Pacific, in use today as an office building.

1971 – 2003
The former National Bank of Washington building—now Sound Inpatient Physicians—at 1123 Pacific Avenue, donated by Mr. and Mrs. L.T. Murray, Sr. In 1997, the museum’s continued popularity and expanding exhibition and education programs prompted the launch of a capital campaign to construct a new building designed specifically as a museum. Ground was broken in January 2001.

2003 - Present
Doors opened for the new building on May 3, 2003, with a twenty-four-hour party for the community. Designed by internationally known architect Antoine Predock, the building responds to Tacoma’s industrial history and the Northwest environment, particularly the quality of light, the preponderance of water, and the dramatic vista of Mount Rainier.

In the past five years, nearly 500,000 people have experienced the exhibitions, programming, and special events that Predock’s elegant building has made possible. The promise of our building is a crucial component of our mission to connect people through art, to focus on Northwest art and artists, and to provide dynamic experiences that reach diverse audiences.