On Foot, By Ear...Art!

Here' something new to add to your next foray setting your feet on the street downtown--Tacoma Art Museum has launched Washington’s first cell-phone walking tour, Ear for Art: Chihuly Glass CellPhone Walking Tour. The innovative new tour allows users to learn more about Dale Chihuly’s artwork in Tacoma’s Museum District as they stroll through revitalized downtown Tacoma.

The tour may be accessed any time of day or night and features twelve audio stops located throughout the Museum District that provide cell-phone users the opportunity to hear a narrator--for some pieces, Chihuly himself--talk about the installations at Tacoma Art Museum, Union Station, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, the University of Washington Tacoma Library, and The Swiss Pub. Tacoma Art Museum joins a growing number of museums across the country--including the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, Austin Museum of Art in Texas, and the Brooklyn Museum in New York--that have chosen to make use of this readily available technology.

The self-guided tour can begin or end at any of the five locations, and access to the tour is free; callers simply pay for their personal airtime charges. The tour also includes games that can be played as the tour progresses. Cell-phone users can choose to just listen to the basic information included at each stop, or they can dial further to hear more about the artworks and installations they’re viewing.

Paula McArdle, curator of education at the Tacoma Art Museum, coordinated the creation of the cell-phone tour, working closely with nationally recognized consultants Museum411, Chihuly Studio, and representatives from each of the venues on the tour. The project was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to promote Tacoma Art Museum’s premier collection of Dale Chihuly’s work, (1977- present) on long-term public display.