The Senior Scene

On rolling, green grounds near Point Defiance Park, Franke Tobey Jones, a 20-acre retirement community, has been a part of Tacoma since 1924.  During that time, this not-for-profit entity has proved itself to be a good neighbor and an asset for the entire city community.  Nothing demonstrates this more clearly than does its Senior University program.

Senior University exists because staff members seriously addressed the premise on which Franke Tobey Jones operates:  “to enrich and expand the quality of life.”  As the staff explored the ramifications of what they wished to accomplish, they realized that the community they wanted to serve included not just the 62+ age resident community but also the 55 and better community at large.

In 2007 the first steps were taken.  The staff wanted to offer education and activities that had substance to them.  They networked with faculty from the local academic communities.  The first cooperative effort was with the University of Puget Sound, which was later joined by Tacoma Community College, University of Washington/Tacoma, Clover Park Schools and Pacific Lutheran.  One staff member was quite active in the arts community, which proved to be a valuable resource.  Senior University has also collaborated with the Elder Hostel program, a fee-based curriculum, and usually, therefore the only Senior University offering that has a fee attached to it. In these first five years of operation, Senior University knows it has touched the lives of at least 600 individuals.

The new Director of Senior University, Kitty Custer says she anticipates being able to continue building on the curriculum that Cherilyn Williams had developed.  She hopes the word will get out into the community so that Senior University might be able to serve an ever-larger number of people.
In addition to a core curriculum on health and wellness issues such as chronic conditions, Senior University offers a variety of courses that appeal to the creative mind and enhance knowledge and experiences in visual arts, literature and music.  Some classes require pre-registration in order to keep the class size a workable one within the constraints of the classroom size.

An example of this is the creative writing class, “What I Have to Say about My Life Journey” with Jan Lawry.  This ongoing class provides an opportunity to discuss the development and use of one’s core values, then see how they apply to making important decisions.  Each month, a different aspect is covered; for Feb. 3 and Feb. 17 the work will center on “Who is your family?” and March will cover work history and education.  The class size is limited to eight, so registration by calling 253-752-6621 is required.

Another class that requires pre-registration because of space limitation is “Poetry Workshop:  Writing Deeply.” Participants will have an opportunity to examine, discuss, write and receive gentle critique.   Tammy Robacker, former Poet Laureate of Tacoma leads this two-hour, Tuesday workshop beginning on Feb. 7.

Oil Pastels with Lia Cravens (one day, two hours) and Acrylic Collage with Roxanne Everett (two days, 4hrs. each) require a small fee.
For more information about these and any other offerings, check out the Franke Tobey Jones web site at www.franketobeyjones.com and click on “community programs.”  This will give you some choices, so click on “Senior University.”  Then click on “Feb 2012 Description of Courses.” Check the calendar page often to see if additional courses are being offered. The web site also offers a map and set of directions on how to find the campus.  A rule of thumb regarding the role of weather in determining if classes will be held:  if Tacoma Schools are closed, there will be no university classes.

If you have any questions or have an idea for an additional course to be added, you can contact:  Kitty Custer, Director of Senior University  at kcuster@franketobeyjones.com  or by mail at the address below.  A brief announcement of all courses appears as an ad in the Tacoma News Tribune.  (If you have trouble accessing information via computer, you might consider taking one of Senior University’s computer courses.)

Although the Grand Cinema had had loyal patrons and volunteers, it was on the brink of financial disaster.  It was in April 1997, when, after considerable work by a core group, the Grand Cinema was declared to be a not-for-profit entity.  Since that time, it has become a community treasure and a resounding success.

When I spoke with Executive Director, Philip Cowan, he said that volunteers have been an integral part of the Grand’s success.  It was volunteers that initially converted the Grand to its present 501(c)3 status.  In the process, volunteers became board members and established the structure for operation within the new status.  Volunteers assure that the Grand is open every day of the year, working three-hour shifts, selling and collecting tickets, selling popcorn and helping guests with any special needs.  The volunteer corps is a reflection of the Grand’s community appeal, for it’s comprised of a wide range of ages, from teens to octogenarians.

Cowan, who came to the Grand via a five-year stint working for the Rainiers, holds degrees in finance and international business.  He has had a life-long interest in films, “especially the ones that make you think afterwards.” So, as the person who selects all the films the Grand shows, Cowan is guided not by the moneymaking aspect of any given film.  Consequently, the Grand has become an art house, which means that both domestic and foreign films are chosen for quality rather than profit, and a weeklong film festival has become an annual event.

Being a committee of one for film selection, Cowan reads all the trade journals and magazines, scans various Internet sites to see how films have been rated, and watches a trailer or two.  (A trailer is a small portion of a film that is shown as an enticement to watch the whole thing.) In addition, he attends film festivals such as Sundance, and views films that have been recommended to him.  This is not your average 40-hour-a-week job, but, Cowan says unabashedly that he loves his work.

Cowan speaks very highly of his staff, especially their flexibility in filling in on a job and their creativity in getting their jobs done.  They are guided by the three tenants outlined in their mission:  educate the viewing public regarding film; make the viewing experience a quality one; encourage the development of a passion for film as an art form.

Under the guidance of Cowan and the board, the Grand is always open to new ideas or a fresh approach to an old one.  Often implementing these ideas requires a partnership.  Farrelli’s Pizza and the Grand Cinema have partnered for what is called DATE NIGHT which includes pizza, wine, dessert and two tickets to the Grand.  Film lectures, a Q&A session over Skype with a director and a community round table on current issues are among the special events.  A relatively new addition is the one-day showing of new or classic films every Tuesday of the year.  On Tuesdays, the matinee is usually mid-afternoon and the second showing is early evening.  And that will be the only day/date that the chosen film will be shown. Thus, in addition to the regular program of films, Cowan can insert an additional 52 films each year.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the fact that you can become a member of the Grand Cinema.  The idea of receiving $1.50 discount on all movies when you present your membership card sounds good, and it is hospitable to also receive a free, small popcorn, but the benefit that really caught my attention is free parking.  Yes!  Through partnership with Pierce County Alliance, free parking for members is available in a lot just a block from the theater.   It should be noted that you can also buy “movie money” in $5 increments which can be used for anything at the Grand.

To learn more, visit the Grand’s website www.grandcinema.com for show times, trailers, and special events. The Grand Cinema is at 606 Fawcett Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98402-2321, (253) 593-4474.

Lynn Di Nino was born in Roswell, New Mexico, one of five children raised by a single mother.  Di Nino and her siblings had minimal supervision, for their hard-working mother, receiving no financial assistance from any other source, often had to hold down two jobs at a time.  The children became adept at adapting to their circumstances in the bare, dry, dusty town that was Roswell.  They scoured the streets and by-ways for any thing that could be either used or sold.  Lynn recalls harvesting wild asparagus that came up through cement cracks.  They’d package it and then go from house to house selling their find for 3-5 cents a bag.  Di Nino attributes her hard work ethic, her tenaciousness, and her ability to live and work on a shoestring to these early years and ultimately contributing to her ability to be self-sustaining as a free-lance artist since 1974.

“The brain just doesn’t stop working,” was one summary Di Nino offered to describe what it is to be an artist.  The ordinary can easily become the extraordinary.  For example, one day she opened a book to the page headed “Table of Contents.”   She saw that ordinary phrase suddenly take on extraordinary properties and before she knew it, she had constructed a new piece.

Likewise, when she walks through her favorite store, Goodwill, a kitchen gadget could suddenly be seen as, perhaps, an arm or a leg for a creature she has yet to build.

All creatures are grist for the mill of Di Nino’s fertile imagination. In the mid 80s and early 90s especially, she traveled to other countries and continents to study their animals.  What were the salient features that identified each animal? What kind of spirit did their demeanor demonstrate? How did they appear during various activities at different times? By studying the animals, Di Nino could select those features that could be used in the stylized structures she created.  She welds a metal frame, or skeleton, over which she lays a hybridized concrete.  Over time, she became a leading expert in use of that special concrete and for ten years she was an instructor at the famous Pratt Institute in Seattle where she also had her work represented in several faculty shows.

After living and working in Seattle for 32 years, Di Nino moved to Tacoma in 2001.  She arrived expecting to find a community of artists, but try as hard as she could, she could not identify where that community congregated. Di Nino appreciates language, often finding humor in common words, but she is serious about one important word: “community.” Believing community to be a dynamic essential for artists to thrive, she established what has become a durable part of the local art scene, the 100th Monkey* gathering. The first party’s success became the pattern for subsequent parties which Di Nino continued to host for three years before she handed off the reins. By this time she had become an icon in the Tacoma art scene, supporting, advising, innovating, cooperating.

Di Nino’s resume consists of 15 pages, single-spaced, and it is still growing because she is still exploring, still creating.  Most recently, she constructed, from recycled materials, 25-30 coats, some of which will be in a show. Or consider her October show at the Sandpiper Gallery in which the humble, paper coffee filter is transformed into delicate jewelry.  Meanwhile she belongs to a group that sponsors a monthly slide show called TRIPOD.

Tacoma has grown fond of Di Nino, for she has roused the rabble (Tollefson Plaza), created a head rolling (First Night), challenged our view of what is normal or the expected (the red door project), and taught us we could turn a suitcase into an art object.  It is not surprising, then, as I write this that there are articles and blogs that review what she has done for our city in her ten years in Tacoma as we prepare to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Art at Work month in November.

For more information visit Lynn’s webe site:  www.lynndinino.com.

*If you are interested in learning about the 100th monkey premise, one source is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundredth_monkey_effect.