4. MIGHTY TACOMA

>>> OCT. 21

We don't yet know what photographs will be in the show Mighty Tacoma: Photographic Portrait 2010, but the title tells us they will reference Tacoma and will be mighty.

Billed as an "interactive celebration and creative exercise in commemoration of Tacoma Art Museum's 75th Anniversary," the show will feature digital portraits by Tacoma-based artists that will be projected in the gallery and posted on the museum website. The show will also include a photographic survey of the city's neighborhoods, families at the museum, community groups and businesses. And visitors can add their own pictures to the website using Flickr, Facebook and other Internet networks.

Keeping to the Mighty theme, I'd suggest a hitting the show's opening during the Third Thursday Artwalk (free admission) in order to grab an early dinner at the Mighty Pacific Grill, which, if I remember correctly, won 149 awards for its food in our Best of Tacoma 2010 issue. I'm excited to see Chef Naccarato's fall menu; I'm hoping for more oysters and squash, but I'll accept quality time with their Asian street food menu.

After the show, I suggest heading to the Mighty Hotel Murano, grab a martini at the stylish lobby bar and kick back in front of the retro fireplace. This is the swankiest place in town.

[Tacoma Art Museum, Oct. 21 to Spring 2011, Wednesday-Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Third Thursdays 10 a.m.-8 p.m., 1701 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.272.4258]

5. GLIMMERING GONE

>>> OCT. 23

The biggest show coming up at Museum of Glass is a three-part installation by Ingalena Klenell and Beth Lipman called Glimmering Gone. (What a great title!) The three parts are: Landscape, Mementos and Artifacts.

Landscape will be a 12-foot-high by 25-foot-long by 18-foot-deep installation of mountains, trees, rocks and a waterfall made of clear, colorless glass. Mementos is a collection of "utilitarian and luxury objects that reflect Western culture ... arranged into seven ‘crystal' compositions that bring to mind a stroll along the Fifth Avenue shopping district in New York City," according to a museum press release. And Artifacts will be a collection of everyday objects like toys and household goods, which, like the other parts, are all made of glimmering clear glass.

This should be a show not to be missed.

Three parts calls for three plates of appetizers - stacked atop each other at Stanley & Seafort's. I typically skip the fine-dining room for the bar where I nosh and sip with a front row view of downtown Tacoma. Stanley's tasting samplers arrive as a tower of food, usually with ahi rolls, grilled beef tenderloin and prawns - although their Dungeness crab and artichoke dip is to die for.

After the Glimmering Gone show, walk down the street to El Gaucho, sit around the grand piano and order a vodka in a clear glass.

[Museum of Glass, Oct. 23-Sept. 6, 2011, 10 a.m. -5 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Third Thursdays, noon-5 p.m., Sunday, 1801 Dock St., Tacoma, 253.284.4750]