6-Pack of Things To Do: Wednesday January 27 2021

There are a few virtual classes and events going on despite the pandemic, including a Bart Simpson celebration and best photos of 2020 events. Find out more in today’s 6-Pack of Things To Do Today. Cheers!

ART: Bart Simpson — that irritable, back-talking hellion who creator Matt Groening pulled the strings — is the focus of the Tacoma Art Museum’s Cocktails w/ Curatorial tonight. The downtown Tacoma museum takes us back to July 2019 when they brought Bart Simpson to town featuring special guest animation cel collector Bill Heeter who lent the works to the exhibition. From the design of the concept to the opening of the exhibition; some of TAM’s key curatorial members will reveal how it all came together. The TAM website suggests a cocktail to sip while learning how the design process and the completed installation came together, or grab a Revision Brewing Kitty Has Claws IPA from the Peaks & Pints cooler. 5:30-7 p.m., Free for members, $20 non-members, register here

BEER FLIGHT: After being relentlessly hounded by a spamming cake marketer — which conjured up horrific mental imagery of frosting — we are capitulating. We will inform you that today is National Chocolate Cake Day. In the spirit of National Chocolate Cake Day — which has yet to be declared an official holiday — we’re playing to our craft beer. Luckily for us craft beer lovers, there are many delicious and unique chocolate beers being crafted by U.S. breweries — just in time for this national day. Chocolate adds complexity, well-roundedness, and smoothness to a beer’s flavor, whether its chocolate is added to the brewing process or chocolate malts are incorporated. Both chocolate additions are represented in our to-go beer flight today, Peaks and Pints Pilot Program: Chocolate Cake Day On the Fly. 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., 3816 N. 26th St., Basecamp Proctor, Tacoma

ARTS & CRAFTS: From now through February, Alma Mater offers all-ages arts & crafts at The Patio. With help from Tinkertopia, they’ve set up free DIY make-and-take craft kits at every table, with all the supplies one could need to craft sweet notes and heartwarming letters of love. Get creative and show gratitude for the special people in your life, or write a love note to Tacoma to display in their space for the public to enjoy. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., 1322 S. Fawcett, Tacoma

BOOK: Tacoma Public Library’s Kobetich Book Club will discuss Erik Larson’s In The Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin tonight. The book takes place in Berlin in the 1930s, while the storm clouds of World War II gathered, and focuses on William E. Dodd, an American ambassador to Germany, and his trampy daughter Martha. Based on actual correspondence and other historical documents, join the Zoom discussion about this exhilarating and insightful piece of literature. 6:30-7:30 p.m., Tacoma Public Library Zoom Room, free, register here

PHOTOGRAPHY: Take a closer look at events from the past year that helped shape the Pacific Northwest. Seattle Times photographers will share their most powerful photos and videos of 2020 and discuss the techniques they used to capture them. Plan for a moderated question and answer session at the end. 7-8:15 p.m., Seattle Times Zoom Room, register here, anyone unable to register on Zoom will be able to watch the event on YouTube Live.

FILM: Invoking the rugged, adventurous spirit of classic Westerns but with a refreshingly contemporary point of view, Cowboys features Steve Zahn as troubled but loving dad Troy. Dismayed by the refusal of estranged wife Sally (Jillian Bell) to let their trans son Joe (Sasha Knight) live as his authentic self, Troy runs off into the Montana wilderness with Joe in tow. Winner of Best Actor for Zahn and Best Screenplay for writer-director Anna Kerrigan at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Cowboys is a stirring portrayal of paternal love, a compassionate appeal for acceptance, and a tribute to outsiders of all stripes. Stream it in The Grand Cinema’s Virtual Screening Room. $12 rental for three days