The Old Post Office and the New Court House Square

Our sketch outing on March 16th was at the new Court House Square...which many of us still call the 'Old Post Office'. I recommend you visit. You'll discover a lot is happening inside the building. When I went through the front door, the first thing I noticed (after all the beautiful old marble and high ceilings) was a sign letting me know a new coffee shop would be opening there soon.

It's a beautiful old building on 'A' Street in downtown Tacoma...and there are lots of new plans for new uses unfolding within it.  The School of the Arts has been in the building for awhile now, and has the entire floor above the main floor for its classes. The real 'old post office' is still functioning on the main floor,  in what is likely a smaller location than in earlier days.  There are lots of high-ceiling small art studios for rent on the fourth floor. There are lovely rooms for events, and in general, the building is full of MANY signs of transition. As new purposes unfold, it struck me: I hope it is all open on Sundays when downtown parking is free.

I chose to bask in the transitions by sketching in a sawdust and 'just plain dust' covered room where a couple of carpenters were working. They gave me permission to sit in an out of the way corner to sketch...so I sat in the dust (wearing black pants, of course) on a lovely old leather-covered bench and enjoyed sketching the stacked furniture (some of it looked like pieces of old court room furniture) and the carpenters' equipment.

Upon leaving to go to our time for sharing sketches...I noticed I'd not only made marks on my two Fabriano sketchbooks (one, plain paper, 3.5" x 5.5" pocket size book and the other, a  9 x 12 Studio Watercolor book), but I had also left 'my mark' on the dusty leather bench by sitting on it.

I hope to see you on the sketching trail,

Frances