PORT ANGELES — The artists are moving out and up, while the outdoor gear is spilling over.
The Art Front at 118 E. Front St. was a gallery for local artists but also “kind of a stepchild,” said Bob Stokes, one of those local artists.
The 3-year-old gallery hasn’t fared well in the rough economy, he said, so Stokes held a meeting with the rest of the collective who showed work there.
They decided to clear out and go upstairs to a former work space — in fact a room with a view over town — beside Studio Bob, the second-floor gallery at 1181⁄2 E. Front St.
“Sometimes you have to circle your wagons,” said Stokes, operator of Studio Bob for the past four years.
“It made economic sense” to bring the Art Front and Studio Bob together.
The new Art Up Front gallery has its official opening at 5 p.m. Saturday during Port Angeles’ Second Weekend art parties.
Shop expanding
So there’s another empty storefront on Front, but not for long: Sound Bikes & Kayaks is preparing to extend into the former Art Front space.
The sales-and-rentals shop at 120 E. Front St. will fill the place next door with outdoor equipment, including new rock-climbing gear, manager Mitch McDougall said this week.
“December-ish” is when the 11-year-old store will expand, he said, adding that Sound Bikes will also start stocking yoga gear.
To learn more about the store’s offerings, visit www.SoundBikesKayaks.com.
‘Scrambling’ upstairs
Meanwhile, “we are madly scrambling,” Stokes said Thursday.
He and his fellow artists have been waxing floors and otherwise cleaning out the Art Up Front space in time for Saturday’s debut.
As for the painters, potters and photographers about to move up and in, they are delighted, Stokes added.
At 30 feet by 30 feet, Art Up Front has more space than the ground-floor Art Front did. On one side, it has windows that look out on the Port Angeles waterfront, and on the other is Studio Bob, the 2,100-square-foot gallery and event space.
“This is much brighter and more inviting,” Stokes said of the new place. “We’re concentrating our energies up here.”
Among the artists showing their creations at Art Up Front are David Haight, sculptor of giant cats; performance painter Doug Parent; weaver and painter Jean Sigmar; photographers Richard Kohler and Eric Neurath; painter-graphic designer Gay Whitman; ceramicists Cindy Elstrom and Jennifer Bright; and Stokes, who sculpts in metal and other media.
Art Up Front’s hours are yet to be set, though Stokes figures the space will be open Thursdays through Saturdays.
“We tried being open Sunday, but being the lone soldier here doesn’t work,” since so many downtown businesses are closed that day.
This Saturday night, the Art Up Front scene could be especially busy.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
