Every winter, Tacomans embark on a treasure hunt. With puffy winter jackets, gloves and warm hats on, they have their eyes wide open, looking for artwork nestled in the winter earth and trees.
The seekers are looking for Monkeyshines — a made-up term that’s become synonymous with a serendipitous project to spark some joy. Over 20 years ago, a woman known simply as Ms. Monkey started it and has kept her identity anonymous, because, as she said, Monkeyshines were never about her.
“ I always feel like I'm kind of the steward of a project that was meant to be,” Ms. Monkey said.
It began when Ms. Monkey and a student at her glass studio were feeling down in the cold, gray Pacific Northwest winter. The two hatched a plan to make some glass creations and hide them within the city, watching from afar as people stumbled upon their treasures.
“ That sounded like a pretty solid plan to lift us out of our funk,” Ms. Monkey said.
The two of them and a handful of other glass artists created about 200 glass floats — colorful spheres stamped with the image of a monkey to hide around the city. Why a monkey? It was a completely random choice. Ms. Monkey said her student had created a monkey stamp that they decided to use.
The artists originally planned to release them around Christmas, but the work of making the spheres took some time. So when they looked ahead to another holiday, they decided to release them around the Lunar New Year in 2004 —which just so happened to be the year of the monkey.
“ One hundred percent serendipitous. It was incredible,” Ms. Monkey said.
She became the anonymous Ms. Monkey, and her student was dubbed Mr. Monkey. Those floats became known as Monkeyshines.
“ We just had the best time and we were all so happy, mission accomplished,” Ms. Monkey said. The artists thought that it was a wonderful moment in time, and put it to bed.
But when Lunar New Year was nearing again, chatter about whether or not Monkeyshines would return spread. Ms. Monkey said they decided they should keep it going. She and a core group of artists committed to completing the full 12-year cycle of animals in the Chinese zodiac.
This is the 23rd year of Monkeyshines, as after the first cycle, the group agreed to complete another cycle. Each year, a different zodiac animal is stamped on the glass spheres. Some of the spheres are swirled with multiple colors, while others shine deep blue or soft pink. The troop has since commissioned artists, including students, to contribute Lunar New Year-themed pieces.
For many Tacomans, Monkeyshine season has become a special tradition, like for Cassie Didericksen. She went out on the first day of the Lunar New Year with her mom and daughter, beginning their search at 5 a.m.
“ We call ourselves three generations of monkeys because we all get to do this together, which I think is better than any glass you're gonna find,” Didericksen said.
The family found what appeared to be a plastic shrinky dink with the drawing of a horse on it — 2026 is the year of the horse.
Rogue artists and curators will also hide other objects inspired by the Lunar New Year during Monkeyshine season.
One of those rogues, Kim Snedden, was out hiding gold horse coins at parks in Tacoma.
“ It's such a blast,” Snedden said. “I love when I can see somebody find what I've hid. I heard a lady scream out when she found the coin, so it just fills my heart.”
While she was out hiding, she found four other treasures — a lithograph of a horse, a wax token and two plastic horse toys, which she hid again for another seeker to find.
If someone finds more than one Monkeyshine, it’s customary to take only one, and leave the others for the next treasure hunter.
Monkeyshines can be found anywhere the public can walk. Ms. Monkey said she and the hiders place the objects all around the city. This year, they’re hiding over 3,000 pieces of glass.
“The gift also of Monkeyshines is the city of Tacoma,” Ms. Monkey said. “You can't normally find a Monkeyshine just driving by, you gotta put in your work.”
If you live in the area, you might want to make some time to look for the Monkeyshines this winter, because Ms. Monkey says next year is going to be the last year for the project.
“I think it's important for people to take a look at this and figure out how they can positively impact,” Ms. Monkey said. “It doesn't take much to put a little sparkle in people's days.”
