Artwork in the Making

This is a piece in process by artist Andy Eccleshall inspired by the Jolly Corks. In 1867, this rowdy group of theater menfolk, named for a parlor trick involving a champagne cork that they’d play on unsuspecting dupes, formed the basis for what is today the civic- and community-minded Elks organization.

Artist Ryan McDonald depicts the infamous mid-1930s Beer Wars that affected Tacoma, Portland, Walla Walla and other spots throughout the Pacific Northwest. An ongoing union dispute between the Teamsters and Northwest Brewing Co. (NWBC) owner Peter Marinoff resulted in armed violence, including a threatening but non-fatal bombing at a roadside joint today known as McMenamins Rock Creek Tavern, located west of Portland. Ultimately, the death of a Teamster while he was picketing Tacoma’s NWBC brewery resulted in both the shooter (a guard hired by the brewery) and Marinoff himself to be sentenced to 20 years in prison for manslaughter.

Artist Jeremy Gregory pays tribute to those artists who came before ours did, in the dead of night, through a poorly boarded-up entrance around the back. From the late 1980s to 2017, the Elks Building was unoccupied and therefore made a fun hangout for pranksters, taggers, skaters and others who showed up to lay claim to the Elks in their own ways. This week, I’ll be interviewing a few of these old-school kids (now adults, with kids of their own) to hear their wild stories and incorporate them into the building’s colorful history.

This fantastical piece by Donny Masterson combines two unrelated Tacoma stories. On November 7, 1940, the original 5,939-foot-long Tacoma Narrows Bridge, nicknamed “Galloping Gertie” by the construction crew assembling it across the sound, failed spectacularly after being open just four months. It was the result of vertical oscillation or “bounce,” exasperated by the harsh winds funneling up the strait. Unbelievably, despite the bridge undulating and twisting ‘til it broke apart, the only death was that of Tubby the dog. Here, Jimi Hendrix (who rehearsed at the home of a Tacoma Elks’ exalted ruler to prepare for his first “homecoming” concert in Seattle since hitting the big time) hits the torsional flutter pedal to make Gertie gallop.