By Morf Morford, Tacoma Daily Index
Every city seems to have its reclaimed and restored brewery/warehouse districts, river walks and artisan cafe/bakery/coffee shop havens. Tacoma has those – and more. From mountain framed sunrises to water views (and access) Tacoma has features few places could dream of offering. But Tacoma has much more than that.
Yes, we have resources and features that are built into our environment here. But we have another added dimension – we have people with vision for what they love and what they think the rest of us could, and maybe should, learn to love.
From Monkeyshines (see our Index article) to Beautiful Angle, Tacoma seems to be a place where ideas – visionary and sometimes crazy – emerge and take shape in what, eventually, becomes something like a local tradition. (Here’s a previous article touching on some of what traditions Tacoma has to offer.)
One such local tradition/event/gathering that has been well under the cultural event radar for many of us is the annual meeting of the Guild of American Luthiers (GAL), a nonprofit educational organization for makers, repairers and miscellaneous lovers of stringed musical instruments.
GAL will be hosting an exhibition of members’ instruments as part of its 23rd Convention/Exhibition. And on Saturday, July 8, from 1pm to 5pm, the public is welcome to attend at no charge. If you want to attend informational sessions you will need to register for the event and join the Guild.
Literally making music
If you thought individually made, hand crafted stringed musical instruments were a relic of a distant era of medieval guilds and artisans, you are in for a treat. PLU is the setting for a gathering of what could be called stringed instrument musical obsessives.
This is your opportunity to see hundreds of handmade stringed musical instruments up-close (and maybe even play a few). Guitars of all sorts, ukuleles, mandolins, violins, lutes, dulcimers and all kinds of other stringed harmonious contraptions and expressions that barely seem possible will be displayed in two large display halls at the Pacific Lutheran University Anderson University Center at 12180 Park Ave S, Tacoma. And you may even get to meet the highly skilled (and usually obsessive) luthiers who made them.
A variety of woods, tools and supplies used in the lutherie trade will be on display, and books and journals published by the Guild will also be available. Over forty or so years GAL has published almost 200 journals, ten books, and dozens of instrument plans.
GAL, like every enterprize, started small, and in terms of staff, but not impact, has stayed small. You can see a profile of the current staff and founders here.
Quasi-annual conventions
As you might guess, the past few years have not been the most conducive for gatherings, and like most writers and artists of all sorts, luthiers are not always the most organized among us. 2023 will be the first full gathering in six years.
For a variety of reasons, the last convention was held in July 2017, and was attended by over four hundred luthier coconspirators, advocates and evangelists – and of course, their friends, families and supporters.
And as you might have figured out by now, people come from literally all over the world to learn, share, be inspired and, perhaps most of all, see what it takes to literally put together a stringed musical instrument. You can see details and photos of the 2017 convention here.
The Guild is Great, the Guild is Good
GAL’s roots first began in 1972 with a (very) small group of stringed instruments nerds with a passion for the (not yet lost) art, craft, and science of lutherie.
GAL currently has a membership which includes over 3,500 crafts people, interested people, and lutherie suppliers in the USA and 40 other countries.
And yes, the Guild of American Luthiers is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational membership organization whose primary, if not exclusive, purpose is to facilitate learning about the art, craft, and science of lutherie. Membership in the Guild is open to everyone. In their entire 50 years they have never sought or received a grant or been sponsored by a commercial entity, their entire budget has come from memberships, sales of their own publications, convention fees, and member donations.
The Guild is headquartered in Tacoma, as it has been since the very early days of GAL. Since 1985, the GAL headquarters has been located on the ground floor of a former Odd-Fellows Hall, built in 1891, at 8222 South Park Avenue, Tacoma, WA 98408.
