Come join Tacoma Weekly staff writer Dawn Quinn as she sits on tonight’s panel discussion examining Tacoma’s role in the Pacific Northwest art scene. Sponsored by Tacoma Shunpike Arts Leadership Lab and City Club of Tacoma, panelists will discuss the question: “Is Tacoma’s Art Scene in Seattle’s Shadow?” The panel will also discuss the identity of Tacoma as a place to live and work as an artist, and what should be changed to make the city a more desirable place to live and work.

Panelists also include David Fischer, executive director of the Broadway Center; Jessica Spring, artist and owner of Springtide Press; Aaron Jacobs, owner of Reel Extras Casting; and Elise Richman, artist and assistant professor of art at University of Puget Sound.

Shunpike as an organization seeks to partner with small- to mid-sized arts groups to provide them with the business tools they need to succeed. Successful events in the past have included arts business clinics focusing on how to build a board of directors, best practices for fundraising, and how to determine whether a group should be for-profit or non-profit.

Tonight’s event, moderated by Erik Hanberg, executive director of City Club of Tacoma, will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Robert Daniel Gallery, located at 2501 S. Fawcett Ave. Admission is free and guests are invited to stay for Tacoma Art Walk immediately following.

Ghosts of the Great Hall: Unsolved Mysteries

When:  March 6, 1-3 p.m.

Where:   Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave.

Uncover some of Washington’s unsolved mysteries with characters from the past. Hunt for lost treasure with D. B. Cooper, a Washington skyjacker who disappeared with his loot; hear a ghost story from Percy Buck, sole survivor of the Andelana shipwreck; search for Sasquatch with Dr. Grover Krantz and question William H. Gilstrap, the Historical Society’s first curator and secretary who was locked away during the “Great Tozier Heist.” This program is free with Museum admission. Tours commence every half hour.

Local actors bring historical figures to life in “Ghosts of the Great Hall,” a program put on three times a year by the Washington State History Museum. Actors prepare monologues that engage children and adults alike, and tell the story of a historical character from Washington’s past. After the performance, questions are encouraged from the audience.

A popular school field trip program, Ghosts of the Great Hall is open to the public on March 6 from 1-3 p.m.

Other Ghosts of the Great Hall programs featured earlier this year included Ghosts of the Great Hall: Disaster! Natural Catastrophes in the Pacific Northwest, and Ghosts of the Great Hall: Icons.