Art Apart with Tacoma Art Museum
Review of Tacoma Art Museum's TAM at Home
Written by TeenTix Newsroom Writer Nour Gajial and edited by Teen Editor Joshua Fernandes
As we adjust to these unprecedented times, quarantine can feel very isolating. Especially for art lovers and museum enthusiasts, exploring museum-quality art has been a big challenge given that most galleries are inaccessible. Thankfully, Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) has created a public website where their collections and exhibitions can be viewed digitally. Although the physical museum setting is absent, their website is an opportunity to continue to connect with art while being physically disconnected. As someone who is not tech-savvy, TAM’s website’s clear tabs and simple design made navigation effortless. The tabs were organized into different categories which made my exploration more focused. TAM’s high quality pictures of art and detailed descriptions gave me a mock museum experience through my computer. While I could talk extensively about all the resources they offer on their page, I found “TAM at Home” and the “TAM Blog” the most interesting. Both pages included an abundance of information about ways you can get involved with art while staying at home.
To start, the “TAM at Home” page gives you access to fun art projects anyone can make. The art projects were very simple and required minimal materials which made me feel motivated to create a piece of my own. There was also a specific hashtag for social media which would give anyone an opportunity to be featured on the Tacoma Art Museum Instagram. I thought that this was a really cool idea, as it gives viewers incentive to engage in their own creativity and share their product with a community as well. In addition, I could also view videos of other artists sharing their processes of creating art, which was inspiring, while I perused the fun project ideas. Overall, I thought this page provided realistic, child friendly, and yet fun art projects which could be very useful if you find yourself bored during quarantine.
While the “TAM at Home” page gave me an opportunity to physically connect with art, the TAM Blog was a very educational and communal way to explore the museum's collection and events. I really appreciated how the active blog posts shared both relevant information about museum events and additionally featured artist work as well. The part I liked most about the blog was TAM’s object of the week feature. In the object of the week feature, TAM eloquently presents a diverse range of art pieces ranging from 3D art to 2D paintings along with a detailed review about the piece itself. The rich information of the weekly blog posts made me really excited for the next one to be published.
While viewing TAM’s website, I was fully engaged in an immersive art experience in the comfort of my own home. As an individual who finds joy in admiring artwork, TAM’s website provided me with a refreshing and expansive gallery to view alongside their exciting DIY project ideas. If you are feeling bored during quarantine, want to create some artwork of your own, or are interested in viewing a professional gallery, then TAM’s website is the place to be!
TAM at Home is available online on Tacoma Art Museum's website. For more information see here.
Lead photo caption: Screenshot from Tacoma Art Museum website.
The TeenTix Newsroom is a group of teen writers led by the Teen Editorial Staff. For each review, Newsroom writers work individually with a teen editor to polish their writing for publication. The Teen Editorial Staff is made up of 6 teens who curate the review portion of the TeenTix blog. More information about the Teen Editorial Staff can be found HERE.
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