Latest news with #HilltopArtists
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The hunt is on for maritime-themed glass treasures in Gig Harbor. They're yours to keep
Sun shining a little too brightly down by the waterfront of Gig Harbor? That glint that caught your eye might not be seawater. The Shenandoah Float Find is on — and there are eight glass orbs left to discover. To commemorate the grand opening of their Maritime Gallery April 26, where a restored fishing vessel, the Shenandoah, will be on display for its 100-year anniversary, the Harbor History Museum is hiding one glass float somewhere in the city each week. The lucky finder gets to keep the float. The Shenandoah is a 65-foot purse seiner built in 1925, according to the museum's website. Tony Janovich donated the fishing vessel to the museum in 2000, and volunteers led by a shipwright and preservation specialist are working to restore the boat. The floats are hidden in spots related to the Shenandoah's history. They're not artifacts or replicas directly tied to the Shenandoah itself, but represent Gig Harbor's maritime heritage, according to Harbor History Museum marketing assistant Libby Spangler. Glass floats were traditionally used to buoy up fishing nets. People can find out when the next float has been hidden by following the museum on social media. So far, four floats have been found, and there are 12 total, Spangler said. Madeline Minkema, a 30-year-old graphic designer who lives in Gig Harbor, was one of the lucky finders. She found the fourth float by the Eddon Boatyard Brick House just minutes after the museum posted that it was hidden. Disbelief was her first reaction. 'I had to call and text all my friends and family because they were all rooting for me,' she said. She'd been researching the Shenandoah online and checking the area frequently in the days prior. An avid monkeyshine searcher for the past three years, the float is the first glass treasure she's found. Now, it sits on her windowsill, where it can catch the sun, she said. Jamie Flick, 42, is another person on the hunt for a float. She hasn't found one yet, but she's hopeful she'll get lucky — or at least enjoy the process along the way, she said. She's been lucky enough to find monkeyshines before, but she thinks it would be extra special to find a piece of glass in her hometown. As soon as the museum posts that a float's been hidden, 'it's go time,' she said. Hilltop Artists, a Tacoma-based nonprofit that supports youth through the art of glass-blowing, designed the floats. Zane Scott, one of the nonprofit's program managers, said in a phone interview that they visited the Shenandoah at the museum to pick the colors for the floats: rustic yellows and reds, with light blue and black 'to really make those colors pop,' he said. A disc on top of the float is stamped with with the name 'Shenandoah,' an imprint of a ship's wheel and the boat's lifespan, 1925 to 2025. Scott said they used a small brass stamp designed specially by Protostamps to make the print on top of the float while the glass was hot and malleable. Every float is unique. They created the spotty effect on the sides of the floats by rolling up little chunks of colored glass, called frit, onto each float like 'sprinkles on a cupcake,' he said. About 30 students worked on the museum's commission, and he estimated the whole process took about a couple weeks to a month. Asked if the organization has any floats people can purchase, he said they don't have any for sale that the museum specifically commissioned, but they'll have floats and other items like sculptures at their spring glass sale May 4 at Hilltop Heritage Middle School. Each week, one float is hidden in a public spot in Gig Harbor, according to the museum's guidelines. The museum posts on Instagram and Facebook when the next one is hidden. Lucky finders are asked to post a picture of the float and its location on the museum's Facebook page, or tag the museum on Instagram. You can also message the museum directly on social media or email marketing@ to announce your discovery. If you've already found one, consider leaving the rest for other people to find, the guidelines say. Once a float is found, the museum will announce it on social media and release another piece of the Shenandoah's story, related to that float's location. On Saturday, April 26, the museum will host a grand opening event at their Maritime Gallery, with 'food, fun, and maritime music,' as well as a ribbon-cutting ceremony and activities for kids, according to Spangler and the museum's announcement on Instagram. Visitors will be able to go onto the Shenandoah, lie down on the crew bunks and interact with the restored boat. Entrance is free. There will also be a chance to win a glass float as a door prize, according to Spangler.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- General
- Yahoo
It's Monkeyshines season. Where to find hidden glass art in Tacoma for Lunar New Year
With Wednesday marking the start of this year's Lunar New Year, it means it's time for another annual tradition in Tacoma: Monkeyshine hunting. For the next couple of weeks more than 3,000 glass treasures will be hidden in local parks, trees and other public places around the city. It's a tradition that has been going on for more than two decades. This year's glass balls and medallions are embossed with a snake to honor the Chinese zodiac. The event was founded in 2003 by a local artist who goes by the moniker 'Ms. Monkey,' and the objects are made by artists with the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio, Area 253 Glassblowing and Hilltop Artists, among others, who have donated time and materials to make it happen. A GoFundMe seeking to raise $16,000 to support The Monkeyshines Project raised nearly $13,000 as of Wednesday afternoon. In the past the event has been funded in part by grants, and Ms. Monkey told The News Tribune Wednesday the GoFundMe offsets material and studio costs. Monkeyshines are only hidden on public property (so don't go snooping or trespassing to find them). The organizers don't reveal when or where they are hidden in order to design it as a scavenger hunt that brings joy to the public. An important rule for the community: Keep only one monkeyshine, per searcher, per year. If you end up finding more than one, Ms. Monkey has said to take a picture and rehide the other for someone else to find. Another rule of thumb is to not follow people you see hiding the monkeyshines. Monkeyshines come in all colors, including clear and camouflage, and might be hidden at low, medium or high levels, as reported by the News Tribune's Craig Sailor in 2022. Some glow in the dark this year. Look again if you don't find a monkeyshine in one spot — the same location could be used again by a different monkey. People often leave hints and tips on where to search on the Monkeyshines Facebook page. Ms. Monkey, who asked to remain anonymous to protect the 'spirit of generosity and gifting and community through art,' said she came up with the idea of hiding glass balls around town while brainstorming ways to combat the 'icy and rainy and dreary and oppressive' weather in Tacoma. 'What do we do? How can we make ourselves happy? And so we thought, well, we can make some stuff and hide it and then stalk people and watch them find it and watch them get excited, and we'll get excited, and everybody will be happy,' she said. 'Really pretty simple concept, and it just kind of evolved from there.' As others started to hear about the idea, they asked to get involved and it built momentum over the years, Ms. Monkey said. The first year they hid 200 pieces of glass. That number has increased every year since, she said. 'It's all free for the public. There's no charge. It's all over Tacoma. It has always been all over Tacoma. We've hit every neighborhood,' she said. 'The glass art itself, it's what gets people out. It's how we get people out of the house, and it's how we create a common quest where people can talk to others and make connections.' A number of other 'rouge monkey' artists have jumped on the tradition and hidden their own creations around the city, like marbles, clay creations, shells, coins, prints, paintings, painted rocks and other objects. Ms. Monkey has noted that those rouge monkeys operate independently from her group and make their own rules. The gift of the monkeyshine is community building and finding beauty in the world, Ms. Monkey said. 'When you're searching for a monkeyshine, you have to get out, you have to look around. You have to get really involved in your environment. You really become connected to your city,' she said. 'I know I personally have seen so many areas of Tacoma that I would not normally see had I not been hiding monkeyshines. I think that's true for both the hiders and the seekers.' Over the decades Ms. Monkey said it's been uplifting to see people out and about, with families and friends and strangers, smiling with each other and connected in a common goal. She's seen people picking up trash while they search, received heartfelt emails from people who have been moved by their finds and knows of one couple who even got engaged with a monkeyshine. Now more than ever, it's important to remember what connects us, she said. 'Get out of the echo chambers. What's always been here and what always will be here is nature,' Ms. Monkey said. 'I saw so many kinds of birds today and sea creatures ... Just get out and go and you'll feel better. You'll feel happy.'
