Art spelled out in Tollefson Plaza

Tollefson Plaza has gotten a little, well, wordy.

On July 31, a dump truck pulled up to the public space in the middle of downtown Tacoma and unloaded thousands of multi-colored 12″ wooden letters. In the past week, visitors have spelled out messages on the plaza’s steps and around its fountain.

According to Spaceworks Tacoma, the installation is entitled “Letters,” and is inspired by the colorful magnetic letters commonly found on refrigerators. “There are no real ground rules for the project,” Sinding commented on the Spaceworks Tacoma blog ( http://www.spaceworkstacoma.wordpress.com/ ). “This project I hope will be Tacoma’s refrigerator, a place where citizens and visitors can come to compose their thoughts, write a poem, leave a message, or even vent steam.”

Sinding, who graduated this year from the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts Media and Culture, says “Letters” is “a public forum. A place for people to actually write their own thoughts down. It can be personal to them.” Tollefson Plaza is located at South 17th Street and Pacific Avenue. “Letters” will be on display through Aug. 30. For more information, visit http://www.jamesgraysonsinding.blogspot.com .