Tacoma Art Museum - Curatorial Information

Curatorial Information

Tacoma Art Museum has more than 3,000 pieces in its collection, two-thirds of which are classified as Northwest art. Since 1935, Tacoma Art Museum has built a permanent collection that includes work from world-renowned artists such as Mary Cassatt, Jean Baptiste Camille Corot, Edgar Degas, Robert Henri, Edward Hopper, Robert Rauschenberg, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, John Singer Sargent, and Andrew Wyeth.

Nearly seventy percent of the collection consists of works from Northwest artists such as Morris Graves, Jacob Lawrence, Joseph Park, Barbara Earl Thomas, and Patti Warashina.

The museum is proud to have the premier collection of Dale Chihuly’s work (dating 1977 to present) on public long-term display. He held his first museum exhibition at Tacoma Art Museum in 1968.

Stone Wave, a major work by sculptor Richard Rhodes, occupies the central court of the museum (see below).

The museum has gained some note for being more open to overtly gay or queer art than most American museums. In 2012, it will present the Hide/Seek show that was censored at the National Portrait Gallery; TAM will present the show uncensored, and will follow it two years later with another show curated by Jonathan Katz, Art, AIDS, America.