City Seen: Tidbits for Summer

Round and Roundabout

According to Webster a hub is  “the central part of a wheel.” Also: “a focus of activity, authority, commerce.” Aptly named, then, The Hub, the Stadium District’s newest restaurant, embodies both senses of the word — with a creative edge. Vintage prints on the walls depict the bicycle (and its wheel); artwork of local artists will rotate on a regular basis. One big piece of art that will remain in place: Chris Sharp’s logo design, featured on interior and exterior murals, was inspired by a famous turn-of-the- century art print by G. Massias.

Correction: the Hub's logo was painted by Chris Sharp inside the restaurant. However, credit for the concept and design execution goes to Rusty George Creative.

Silverado

Fifty-three-year-old Jean Hayes grew up in Tacoma “dabbling”; she took art classes, but didn’t do much with what she learned. In 1988, she opened Parvenu Hair Design: coiffure was her creative medium. But five years ago, when cleaning out her basement, Hayes found her high-school art portfolio. She hung a few drawings around the house and . . . awakened. She headed back to art class and learned to work with Precious Metal Clay (PMC):  you mold it like clay and fire it and it melts down to pure silver. Hayes loved the material so much she saved for a year to buy a kiln. Now she’s selling sleek necklaces and earrings that combine rugged materials like polished rocks (collected on daily walks) with intricately carved PMC pieces. “I get a positive energy when I wear handmade work,” she says. “I hope women get that when wearing my pieces.” Hayes has shown her designs at Purdue University and at Ruby Collection in Tacoma.  Two of her pieces were featured in the 2008 PMC Guild Annual. There is now a gallery space in her salon (19 N. Tacoma Ave.; 253.572.4885) or you can view Hayes’s jewelry online  at jeanhayesdesign.com.

Questions for L.J. Harrell, Lifeguard at Morgan Family YWCA

How’d you get interested in being a lifeguard?
When I moved here from Killeen, Texas, in 2006, I heard there were jobs at the “Y.” The more I looked into it, the more interested I became.

What makes a great lifeguard?
First is a cool head during stressful situations; that's what separates a rescuer from everyone else at the scene. Second is communication; you should make all members feel welcome in the pool area.

Trunks or Speedo?
I like trunks better, but they drag more in the water.
 

Water wings for kids: friend or foe?
Definitely foe. Water wings are classified as “not safe.”
 

How many times have you told people, “no running”?
You know the saying,  “If I had a nickel for every time I've said that”? Yeah, I'd be rich.
 

How does your life compare to “Baywatch”?
Are you kidding me? That show is ridiculous.

My Summer Reading

Pat McDermott, Co-owner, King’s Books.  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. This author is incapable of writing a bad sentence. 

Naomi Carleton, Blogger (bothhands.mu.nu). Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir by Jennette Fulda. I’m big on memoirs right now.

Magdalena Ramos, Barista, Satellite Coffee. Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I fell in love with the movie and was bummed I didn’t read the book first.

Ginger Bellerud, Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Glass. West with the Night by Beryl Markham. Inevitably, I’ll reread my favorite book of all time.

Houston Wimberly III, Multimedia artist. Wonderland by Joyce Carol Oates. It's about the search for wonder, the search for identity, the search for our souls.

Written by Jessica Corey-Butler, Erik Hanberg, Bond Huberman and Jonathan Shipley