We're very streetful...

and greatful the Urban Art Fest...will be twinned with Hot Rod aRama... more or less...
I'll be going...because I love the iron...weird.
cars are evil, but chopped up cars are soul-charging heart-smacking Cool, daddy-0........



I've vowed to never do another outdoor show again..so I won't be vending there.....
i really hated getting rained on...
what a mess...(see Lulu's blog for a pictorial review.)

went to the Joel Dance and the Art show at the Merlino /IOOF bldg, (I helped dress the ever lovely Charlotte...)
then on to drinks/pizza/Colin/Jenny at PSP........

All week, last week, Mark and I rearranged the shop, moved tons of new stuff in...(Pics later tonight)

And I guess we'll be open for short time during Sanford&Sons auction Monday evening......Read the NewsTribune for details!!!

What's new?
Furniture...clothes, home design...vintage vinyl...
and summer is being phased out over the next 3 or so weeks...and fall is moving in...
Small furniture is being set out on the floor...later this week...
smaller homes, dorm rooms and ...your camping camper or Bedouin Tent need Decor !

from my last post bemoaning the State of Destruction...I see many repeat faces in the shop and some...I've never seen in the shop...but surely out and about...
I have been extremely critical of the harm the City has done to our district...because someone has to fill you in on the Whole Story, and the News Tribune has been harmful to us, slamming our district in a negative tone that borders on libel/slander...

and it was and is ONLY because a group of citizens protested loudly on what the Train People wanted to do to downtown Tacoma...that is, Build a Wall of Brutal Concrete, was the design changed to something much more uplifting...
There is nothing that says Public Transit has to be Mind-Slammingly Ugly, but governcrats often go the way of Cheap and Ugly...why? They never ever went to Art School!!!

I worry that Tacoma only gets the "Happy, Happy, Everyone Is Happy" delusional side of the story....in Gentrification, Winners are picked and Losers are kicked...by Government...you need to know that those in power on the City Council and the City Manager...want Tacoma to become a white-bread sanitized UnCreative spot on the road between Portland and Seattle.....
We'll never become a high-class Artful Community until we have at least one bona fide Art School, and a Law School......why? because without a body of energetic fresh weirdos (I love the creative weirdos we have but we don't have enough to make Tacoma fully satisfyingly amazing...)(Yes, I'm talking to you Folksingers In Hell, Colin and Lyn..et al...)
And a Law School, with its yearly graduates of charged up Do-Gooders...will go after corruption and stupidity (Luzon Bldg.) so that it will not reign in Tacoma forever.......
Museums house Art from outside Tacoma...which is why Tacoma made such a big f'n deal outta Dale Chihuly...there's no reason why we can't cultivate 10000 more talents like that....
I know we have SOTA (good start!) but an MBA school is the opposite of creativity....except for creative ways to get all your money, Bernie Madoff...
**********Remember, you heard it here first....**********
the lovely Sarah commented:
I would hope that whenever the Elks deal goes thru and is actually refurbished, you would get a lot more foot traffic back on antique row. Trust me, I still go there. But when the Elks is shiny and new, tourists will like all the little shops and vintage wares (here's hoping).

I think some tourists don't always make it beyond the museum district and Pac Ave.

I loved Rampart from the Steve days, he was always so friendly, and love that you guys have kept it alive in your own way. Don't give up yet.

I responded:
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment...
I really do want more retail down here...it's so lonely!
Ask my neighbors...I really do want us all to have a great success, and not just in the Capitalist way...($), but to be creative and to give Tacoma tons of fun and inspiring things to do!

So, I do hope the Elks project happens and I hope a million more businesses open up...

Sadly, our business has been decimated by the City of Tacoma. The Elks project, if it ever happens, will be at least 2 more years away. My lease is up in May 2010, and I'll go...
Steve was able to keep Rampart going, with my/husband's help for part of the time, only because Steve had a very very cushy City of Tacoma job.....I find that extremely ironic.The new city manager Eric Anderson, only has one idea for Tacoma...and that is to turn Tacoma into the most condo-friendly retirement/bedroom community that exists to employ every single MBA that UWT can spit out.

Business is the enemy of Art (true fact), Art exists for its own sake. Business exists only to make money. We, are caught in the middle. I'm not rich, will never be, but I'm feeling pretty happy...and pretty creative...and that is a feeling that no amount of money can buy!! But bring some money downtown anyway, just in case...;-)