U.S. Open (Golf) Fan Guide 2015

1 1 5 T H U . S . O P E N C H A M B E R S B A Y
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Where art, golf meet
Pop-Up Art Putt brings
minigolf to Tacoma Art
Museum to celebrate the
U.S. Open’s arrival
BY ROSEMARY PONNEKANTI
Staff writer
Think there isn’t much in common
between golf and art? Think again. Next
week, the Tacoma art community —
spearheaded by Tacoma Art Museum and
the city’s Arts Commission, and funded by
the National Endowment for the Arts — will
celebrate the U.S. Open in artistic style by
opening its own course of 10 artist-designed
minigolf holes. Pop-Up Art Putt will run
Thursday night through June 21, offering
minigolf enthusiasts the chance to play for
free all over the museum’s plaza, Tollefson
Plaza and the Prairie Line Trail, newly
opened for pedestrians next door.
“We’re delighted to bring this playful
activity to the public in celebration of the
U.S. Open coming to town,” Tacoma Art
Museum director Stephanie Stebich said in
a news release. “As a golfer, I can’t wait to
play.”
Stebich may be a golfer, but not all of the
participating artists are. Among the holes is
one designed around a railway by an artist
who prefers hiking, one or two imitating
pinball machines and one that doubles as a
skateboard ramp. There’s also a hole built in
the shape of a giant Pacific octopus, one
shaped like a tiger, one a tropical jungle
with Rube Goldberg-type obstacles, and two
that are city models of Tacoma itself. All are
competing for an audience-voted prize of
$500.
The pop-up putt-putt course doesn’t just
coincide with the U.S. Open — it also falls
on a weekend that includes Art Walk
(Thursday, with food trucks, live music and
beer), Go Skate Tacoma (June 20, with
skateboard clinics and competitions) and
the museum’s Summer Solstice Sculpture
Festival (June 21, with free museum entry
and activities). Add in some sunny weather
and you’ve got plenty to amuse the folks
who aren’t spending the day at Chambers
Bay.
But of course, the holes themselves are
the real draw. We pinned down five of the
10 artists to ask them: What’s your hole?
How are you building it? And do you even
like golf?
CHRIS SHARP, PAINTER
What: “I wanted to make a whale theme,
so I’m doing an orca. It’ll be a bit bigger
than a garbage can, with the putting green
about 4 by 12 feet in an L-shape.”
How: “I’m using salvaged building
materials: old tile, quarter-inch plywood.”
Golf? “I’ve been to Tower (Lanes
Entertainment Center) indoor golf. It’s not
my favorite activity, but it’s fun.”
OLIVER DORISS, GLASS ARTIST
What: “The challenge is to build a
functioning three-dimensional sculpture
that people can actually walk on. It’s less an
aesthetic thing than an engineering
problem — you have to know how to build
decking. I’m building this incredibly
elaborate thing based on a skeeball game,
where you shoot the ball up a ramp. It’s a
3-D version of Tacoma with bridges and
landmarks that you can hit the ball
through, like the 11th Street Bridge, the
Tacoma Dome, the Museum of Glass, the
LeMay, and Stanley and Seafort’s.”
How: “It’ll be about 10 by 5 feet, with a
normal decking floor and wood
components built to go on top. It all breaks
down to fit in my car. The city model has an
abstract feel, painted flat black. And it has
some trick shots in it.”
Golf? “I grew up in a seaside
summertime touristy community where
there were a number of miniature golf
courses. I have fond memories of minigolf.
But to be honest, actual golf was boring to
me. As I got older, though, I realized that
everyone is drinking booze out there —
they’re loaded.”
SEAN ALEXANDER, PEN-AND-INK ARTIST
What: “It’s called ‘Tiger in the Woods’ —
a cheap riff. There’s a wooden tiger, a bit
bigger than life size, and you hit the ball
through its mouth. I got the idea because
golf is kind of boring, so on TV they cut to
local things and places. I wanted to make
something that would appeal to the PGA.”
How: “It’s more geometric than realistic,
and I’m hoping to paint it Mexican folk-art
style.”
Golf? “I love golf. It’s a bad habit, and I
try to keep it to three or five times a year.
It’s a nasty game that takes a lot of time.
But it’s fun.”
GABRIEL BROWN, MIXED MEDIA
What: “I’m calling it ‘Lunar Tilt Maze,’
ROBERT BOYLE City of Tacoma
Artist and skateboarder Taylor Woodruff’s team works on his design for a minigolf hole, a reference
to local railroads that is also skateable.
CITY OF TACOMA Courtesy
Artist Jillian Nintze’s minigolf hole is based on a
sculpture of a giant octopus.
and it’s based on the hand device where you
tilt handles to move a marble through a
maze. You putt up a rainbow ramp that
becomes tighter into a prism, and the ball
has to drop down into the surface of the
moon.”
How: “Plywood and plaster, with a
sculpted, painted moonscape, craggly and
gray.”
Golf? “I grew up golfing, and I think it’s
one of the most ridiculously wasteful sports
even created by humans. I’m actually pretty
good at it. But I’m a huge fan of minigolf.”
JORI ADKINS, ARCHITECT
What: “I’ve actually done this before —
we put nine minigolf holes in (the building
we own next to our house). And for the
Northwest AIDS Foundation event in 1996,
I created a two-block street course. This
one’s just 10 feet long and inspired by the
IF YOU GO
What: Pop-Up Art Putt, a mini golf course with
10 artist-designed holes
When: 5-8 p.m. Thursday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. June
19-20, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. June 21
Where: Tacoma Art Museum plaza (1701 Pacific
Ave., Tacoma) and Tollefson Plaza, opposite;
and the Prairie Line Trail (Hood Street between
South 15th and 17th streets)
Cost: Clubs and balls available free at the museum
And also: 5-8 p.m. Thursday ArtWalk with free
museum entry, beer garden, food trucks and
live music; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. June 20 Go Skate
Tacoma at Tollefson Plaza; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. June
21 Summer Solstice Sculpture Festival with free
museum entry
Information: 253-272-4258,
tacomaartmuseum.org/golf
Northern Pacific Railway, with a big
8-foot-high crossing sign and Tacoma at the
end — the Terminus of Destiny. I also
wanted to have something fun to hit
through, like a Pachinko game. You shoot
the ball and it clinks down and it’s all luck
from there. One of my team is actually a
former pinball game designer.”
How: “We’re basing the color scheme on
the Northern Pacific logo, which is black
and red with a yin-yang sign.”
Golf? “No, I don’t play. It’s nice being
outside, but I’d rather go hiking.”
Rosemary Ponnekanti: 253-597-8568
Friday, June 12, 2015 • Thenewstribune.com/Entertainment