PORT ANGELES — In his ongoing effort to cultivate the artscape in downtown Port Angeles, sculptor Bob Stokes is holding his 10th biannual “Bring Your Own Art” show next weekend.
The show opens Saturday night — but now is the time, Stokes said, to bring both covert and overt art out into the light.
“Established artists, budding artists, kids’ art, old art — all are welcome,” he said this week.
Each contributor to “Bring Your Own” may deliver a maximum of three works to Studio Bob, the show’s venue upstairs at 118 ½ E. Front St.
Delivery day is Friday, and participants must bring their pieces in between noon and 9 p.m.
“We don’t jury it. We don’t critique it. This is just a chance to come out of the closet,” Stokes quipped.
He’s held “Bring Your Own Art” twice a year, in winter and summer, since mid-2007.
The show grows to about 100 pieces, and contributors have discovered many things as a result: They’ve met fellow art lovers as well as other artists and even found buyers for their work, Stokes said.
“A lot of artists work alone,” he added, so upon meeting each other suddenly at the show, “it was, ‘Oh, you do art, too?’”
Gray Lucier, a fellow sculptor who works alongside Stokes, extended an invitation to those who’ve never stepped foot, much less shown art, in a gallery.
“We’ve had young people, and we’ve had people who are recently retired and are now being creative. And then we’ve got people who are encouraged by their friends to get it out there and go public,” he said.
Lucier also wants to see novel techniques and materials, be they in paintings, sculpture or mixed-media work.
Stokes added that contributors to “Bring Your Own” may choose to put their pieces up for sale or not.
The show’s opening party is slated for 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. That event is open to the public.
Those who can’t make it Saturday evening, or who just want to have another look, can also stop by between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15.
Studio Bob, with its adjacent Art Up Front gallery overlooking downtown, is part of the Second Weekend art festivities orchestrated by Stokes and a cadre of local artists and gallery owners.
Their hope is that downtown Port Angeles will grow livelier via shows like “Bring Your Own Art,” along with events such as Second Friday Art Rock, aka 2FAR, which brings bands and visual artists together to perform at Bar N9ne, 229 W. First St.
For details about “Bring Your Own Art” and other Second Weekend events, phone Stokes at 415-990-0457.
To learn more about Second Friday Art Rock, find “2FAR Port Angeles” on Facebook or email PA2FAR@live.com.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
