While I was visiting Tacoma last month, I went back to the Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio. I had been there for my resin class, but there was so much beautiful glass to see that I wanted to spend some time simply wandering through the gallery. And when I say a lot of glass, I mean A LOT! Everywhere I looked there was something different—bowls, sculptures, garden pieces, jewelry, colorful blown glass, fused glass, and pieces that immediately made me wonder. That’s probably my favorite part about visiting other glass studios and galleries. I don’t just see beautiful, finished pieces—I see ideas, techniques, colors, textures, and inspiration. 😂 For a glass lover, this place is definitely somewhere you don’t want to rush through. ❤️🔥
While I was visiting the gallery, Jamie told me about one of Tacoma’s coolest traditions—Monkeyshines! Every year around the Lunar New Year, local glass artists and volunteers create handmade treasures and secretly hide them throughout Tacoma for people to discover. The tradition began in 2003, the Year of the Monkey, and has grown from handblown glass floats into a community-wide art adventure featuring medallions and other handmade treasures. There are no maps telling you exactly where to look—the fun is unexpectedly discovering a little piece of art left behind by a stranger. Of course, as a glass artist, I absolutely loved this idea! I didn’t find one of the hidden treasures on this trip, but I did bring home a little piece of the tradition. Since I was born in 1965, the Year of the Snake, I couldn’t resist this beautiful soft-green glass mug with a Snake medallion. I may also have to pick up a Rabbit for Madison! ❤️ Even better, purchasing these special pieces helps support Monkeyshines and the creation of artwork that will eventually be hidden for strangers to find. Artists using their time and talent simply to put something beautiful into the world and make someone they may never meet happy—now THAT is my kind of thing! ❤️
One of the things I love about traveling is discovering something I had absolutely no idea existed, and this trip to Tacoma gave me a wonderful one: Monkeyshines! I learned about it while visiting Tacoma Glass Gallery & Fusing Studio in the Proctor District. Jamie and I were talking about glass—because, really, what else would I be talking about? 😂—when she told me about a Tacoma tradition where artists secretly hide beautiful handmade glass treasures throughout the city for people to find and keep. Monkeyshines began more than 20 years ago with an anonymous Tacoma glass artist known as Ms. Monkey. During the winter of 2003, she and her husband, Mr. Monkey, decided to make handblown glass floats and secretly hide them around Tacoma as unexpected gifts. The project took longer than planned, so instead of Christmas, the treasures were ready for Lunar New Year—and 2004 just happened to be the Year of the Monkey! About 250 of those first glass treasures, stamped with a monkey design, were hidden around the city. That wonderfully mischievous idea became an annual Tacoma tradition. Each year, artists create glass floats and medallions featuring the animal of that year’s Lunar New Year and hide them in public places throughout the city. If you find an official Monkeyshine, you get to keep it! The project has grown enormously, and other artists now join the fun by hiding their own creations as well. There’s even an unwritten Monkeyshines rule I especially love: if you’re lucky enough to find more than one, take one and leave the others for someone else to experience that same magical moment of discovery. And THAT was the part that really stuck with me. Artists making something beautiful, then giving it away to a complete stranger just to make their day a little brighter? I absolutely love that. ❤️
There is, however, a bittersweet ending coming. Ms. Monkey has said that 2027 will be the final year of Monkeyshines. After more than two decades of secretly putting thousands upon thousands of handmade pieces of glass into the world for strangers to discover, she feels it is time for the project to end. She has said that she doesn’t want someone simply taking over Monkeyshines after she’s finished. Instead, she hopes people will take the spirit behind it and find their own ways of positively affecting their communities and putting a little unexpected sparkle into someone else’s day. I think that’s a beautiful legacy for something that started with a few glass artists and a mischievous idea.
If you would like to see more of my fused glass work, please refer to my website Elegant Fused Glass by Karen. If you get a chance, check out all my site and my Elegant Fused Glass by Karen YouTube. If you would like to stay abreast of what I’m up-to and learn a little more about jewelry, check out our newsletter. It is published the last day of each month.
Karen
