SEQUIM –– Hammers pounded nails into freshly painted walls over the weekend as artists from across the North Olympic Peninsula hung their work inside the soon-to-open LARC gallery.
“It’s looking really great, all this wonderful art going up so quickly,” said owner Shirley Mercer.
LARC, which stands for Local Artists Research Center, is in the Bank Plaza, 166 E. Bell St.
It opens this Friday in time for the city’s First Friday Art Walk.
“I just love it,” Port Angeles artist Pat Donlin said. “She’s really set it up in a way that it’s just the artist showing their work.”
Artists pay $11 a month per linear foot to claim wall space in the gallery.
Mercer said she wanted to avoid the standard gallery model of charging artists commission when their work sells.
“When you have to pay that big commission on top of a big entry fee, you’re just giving your art away. This way, the artist gets to keep the money,” Mercer said.
That setup also opens the walls to anyone who can claim some of the space, she added.
There’s no governing board, as in many cooperative galleries, to determine whose work is allowed to hang.
“I wanted it to be open to everybody,” Mercer said. “Who am I to judge if your work is good enough?
“There’s not a one of us who is Rembrandt in hiding.”
Friday’s open will feature the work of 24 artists who rented space.
In addition to the art showcase space, the gallery also will be available for classes and meetings. Mercer has set up a small matting and framing room and will stock art supplies.
For more information, visit the LARC website: www.larcgallery.com.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Joe Smillie can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or at jsmillie@peninsuladailynews.com.
