Free Neighborhood Nights held every Thursday at the TAM

If you’re looking for a creative way to spend your evening, this is where you should go!

Have you been craving to try something new lately? Maybe something colorful or engaging your creativity? I’ve felt this way for a while and satisfied that inventive itch by attending some of the events at the Tacoma Art Museum’s Free Neighborhood Night! 

While there are plenty of fantastic exhibits to see during your average museum stroll, there’s also tons of fun activities and new experiences that the TAM has in store for you. If you take a peek at the museum’s website, you can find an events tab with many unique activities such as dance lessons, yoga, quilt making, kids storytime and life drawing.

The event I went to was a live life-drawing lesson, held nearly every month on Thursdays. It was $15 for a drop-in session, which would last about one hour, or $30 for the full class, spanning two hours total. We were provided with a variety of materials to experiment with, I personally caught a liking to the charcoal sticks that were available. 

The event will next be held on March 9, so if you’re any interested in learning more about drawing, I would highly recommend it!

This session was hosted by the incredibly skilled Becky Frehse, who is an excellent instructor. Her instruction style was engaging, her advice was helpful, and I really felt I learned a lot in the time I was there. Becky has been an artist and art educator in Tacoma for many years now, graduating from Central Washington University in 1984 and hosting a plethora of events and art shows since then. If you’d like, you can check out Becky’s portfolio and more at beckyfrehse.com.

Another event often held on Thursdays, typically at the same time as the life drawing session I went to, is an hour-long dance lesson from the Tacoma Urban Performing Arts Center, or T.U.P.A.C. While I didn’t have a chance to check this one out, I could hear the excitement from across the building! If dance is your thing, the T.U.P.A.C team will also be back on March 9 for more.

These two events land on a Thursday, which coincides with the TAM’s weekly Free Neighborhood Night, allowing free entry for anyone from 5p.m to 8p.m. If any of the other events mentioned above catch your fancy, you’re free to check the events page for more information at tacomaartmuseum.org/events. I hope to see some of you there!