PORT ANGELES — The North Olympic History Center/Clallam County Historical Society and the Olympic Peninsula Art Association, along with The Messy Palettes of Clallam Bay and the Far West Art League, will join forces to present a special exhibit, “Art as Artifact,” beginning at 1 p.m. Sunday.
The reception — part of the History Tales series — is set to end at about 4 p.m. at the old Lincoln School site at the corner of Ninth and C streets.
It is free and open to the public and light refreshments will be served. Parking and entry are on the west side of the school off West Ninth Street. Silk artist Karen Sistek has donated one of her florals for a raffle to benefit the History Center.
The show will be open by appointment between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in June.
More than 300 pieces representing more than 60 artists will be on display. The collection is owned by the History Center and has been donated by estates, artists and owners of artwork.
This is an opportunity for the community to view most of the collection that includes artwork from the 1890s to present, organizers said.
All pieces presented in this show were created in Clallam County by residents at the time.
The idea for the show came about, organizers said, when state-of-the art storage units were installed in the Artifact Storage Facility.
Items had to be removed from the original old storage and temporarily stored in Lincoln School, and when volunteers saw the collection it was decided that the public should have the opportunity to see the pieces as well.
A highlight of the exhibit, event organizers say, is a 13-foot-by-3-foot painting of the Port Angeles Gun Club, completed by Thomas Guptill in 1938. The club is still located east of Port Angeles.
The exhibit also includes a collection of Esther Webster’s large, expressive pieces, along with paintings by Minerva Troy and Gustav Kalling and a collection of watercolors by Joy McCarter done from the 1970s to the 1980s.
For more information, call the History Center’s office at 360-452-2662 or email to artifact@olypen.com.
