Museum & Arts Center

I’m embarassed to admit that I’ve lived in Sequim two years before I finally darkened the doorstep of the Museum & Arts Center (MAC). Partly, I didn’t know what to expect. And, frankly, I’m accustomed to big museums where I can melt away, be anonymous, and take it in as I wish, mistakenly admiring a random fire alarm if it suits me.

The MAC is small, comfortable, and pleasant. The art above has just been changed out for a juried art show and sale, part of the annual Sequim Irrigation Festival.

There are also history exhibits – human history of the region and a small exhibit on the Manis Mastodon, a fascinating archaeological find near Sequim that recently established human habitation here fully 13,800 years ago. The Manis site was excavated in the late 1970s and one of the first rib bones of the mastodon found at the site revealed a spear point embedded in the bone. CT scans last year confirmed that the point had been finely worked by human hands; DNA tests established human habitation 800 years before the Clovis peoples who had previously been thought to be the earliest inhabitants of North America. Clare Manis Hatler, on whose property the dig took place, doesn’t exaggerate when she says, “I’ve got the oldest bones around.” Several are exhibited at MAC.

Museum & Arts Center

I’m embarassed to admit that I’ve lived in Sequim two years before I finally darkened the doorstep of the Museum & Arts Center (MAC). Partly, I didn’t know what to expect. And, frankly, I’m accustomed to big museums where I can melt away, be anonymous, and take it in as I wish, mistakenly admiring a random fire alarm if it suits me.

The MAC is small, comfortable, and pleasant. The art above has just been changed out for a juried art show and sale, part of the annual Sequim Irrigation Festival.

There are also history exhibits – human history of the region and a small exhibit on the Manis Mastodon, a fascinating archaeological find near Sequim that recently established human habitation here fully 13,800 years ago. The Manis site was excavated in the late 1970s and one of the first rib bones of the mastodon found at the site revealed a spear point embedded in the bone. CT scans last year confirmed that the point had been finely worked by human hands; DNA tests established human habitation 800 years before the Clovis peoples who had previously been thought to be the earliest inhabitants of North America. Clare Manis Hatler, on whose property the dig took place, doesn’t exaggerate when she says, “I’ve got the oldest bones around.” Several are exhibited at MAC.

Theme Day: Bakeries

There we were with our weekend guests, downtown Sequim, and about to go home for dinner. Then I remembered: what about dessert? Okay, maybe I didn’t just “remember.” We were mere steps away from cupcake heaven, That Takes the Cake, and lemon blueberry and carrot cupcakes to go.

The baker was about to put finishing touches on this cake in the kitchen. She graciously brought it out when I asked if I could take a picture. Happy birthday, Katlyn!

“Bakeries” is today’s City Daily Photo Theme Day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Metal Man

This piece of metal artwork by Sequim artist Per Berg was unveiled not long ago at a local business, High Energy Metal, in Carlsborg. It’s really gorgeous.

Metal Man was commissioned by the co-owner of High Energy Metal, Dave Brasher, a longtime friend of the artist’s family. It is over 8 feet tall and 300 lbs. Berg took about six months to complete the piece. An art graduate of The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Berg created the skeleton with steel rods and then used a plasma cutter to cut the steel pieces of the shape. A hammer refined the figure’s contours. The local Peninsula Daily News quoted Berg, 25, “Metal art is cool but a lot of artists are intimidated by it. I got a sunburn from it once and I caught myself on fire.”