PORT TOWNSEND — What do you get when you put a group of artists together and ask them what color to paint the walls?
A year of discussion.
That’s how long members of the North Olympic Artists Cooperative debated color choices before starting to remodel their Water Street gallery.
“We had 26 artists, so we had 26 opinions,” said Gary Larkins. “Now there is color in an art gallery — imagine that.”
Larkins, a woodworker, is a member of Gallery 9, which was founded by the NOAC five and half years ago.
Getting started
Last week, the current members — painters, sculptors, jewelry makers and woodworkers — rolled up their sleeves and transformed the big space in a short time.
“It’s been a fast, intense effort,” said Sandra Offutt, as she moved paintings back into the gallery.
The gallery, located in 3,000-plus square feet of prime retail space, has been on firm ground since it was founded by Michael Kenney and Vicki Thorn-Ohly in 2004.
Both jewelry makers, they met at an uptown Christmas craft fair in 2003, Kenney said.
When Thorn-Ohly expressed interest in starting another artist cooperative in Port Townsend — the other not accepting new members — Kenney, who was living in Sequim at the time, offered his expertise.
“I had started a couple of cooperatives before, so I had the history and expertise,” Kenney said. “The hardest part was committing to the space.”
Two spaces were available at the time, he said, but there was a big difference in price — $1,000. Signing the lease for larger space was a huge leap, Kenney said, but proved to be the right decision.
“I am so glad we took the larger space,” he said. “We have a large display area — all that extra room.”
The space allows the cooperative to have a large membership base.
Each member pays a $200 buy-in fee, plus a monthly fee of $85 and 20 percent of sales, and in return, gets an exhibit space that he or she designs. They also have a say in how the gallery is run and share the responsibility for the work.
For the remodel, which started last Sunday, members moved everything out, then painted the walls white, installed additional track lighting and moved the sales counter from the front to the back of the main room.
In the back, rustic paneling, originally from a woodshed in Port Angeles, was removed, as was the garage door that covered one wall.
“When we started the gallery, we were going for a shabby chic look,” Kenney said. “Now we’re upgrading to a cleaner presentation.”
By Friday, the members were setting up display cases and hanging paintings.
The members also rotate exhibit space every month so that each artist has a chance to be in the front if they choose, Kenney said. And because new members rotate in, there is always fresh energy and ideas, he said.
“It’s wonderful to share this space and share our passion,” said Linda Lundell, a painter and cloisonne artist who is one of the newer members. “The co-op is the ideal community.”
It’s also financially sound SEmD sales during the summer months carry the business through the winter, according to Larkins, who handles the bookkeeping. The gallery is even weathering the economic downturn.
“We’ve been doing well with higher-end paintings and furniture,” Kenney said. “We’re down, but we’re not down as much as we expected.”
In addition to brightening up the walls, the artists transformed the plinths, large block-shape pedestals used to display art. For colors, they chose a variety of jewel tones.
“They used to be all the same color,” Larkins said as he finished painting the last one. “Battleship gray.”
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Port Townsend/Jefferson County reporter-columnist Jennifer Jackson can be reached at jjackson@olypen.com.
