PORT ANGELES — “Chicken Girl.” “Retro Strut.” Woodland apparitions.
They must be seen to be believed. And the chance to behold these artworks comes Saturday night in the inaugural Bring Your Own Wearable Art Show, an exhibition and runway pageant to benefit Serenity House.
Port Angeles artist Sarah Tucker has assembled the show to start at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Allé Stage at Studio Bob, upstairs at 118½ E. Front St.
To begin, the exhibit and reception will be open until 8 p.m. with free admission. Throughout the evening, The Loom bar adjacent to the Allé Stage will be open and serving snacks, beer, wine and soft drinks.
During this party, visitors will have the opportunity to vote, with dollars for Serenity House, for their favorite pieces.
At 8 p.m., the ticketed event — make that spectacle — begins.
Tucker’s “Chicken Girl” dress, a burst of white packing-material petticoats, shimmering red accents and a large golden egg to top it off, is just one of the runway highlights.
Tickets to runway show
General admission to this part of the evening will be $5, while those who want front-row seats — which come with the privilege of judging the show — pay $20.
Proceeds will go to Serenity House of Clallam County’s programs to prevent homelessness, while Serenity House Port Angeles Thrift Shop manager Richard Stephens will serve as master of ceremonies.
Another entry to hit the catwalk is Cindy Elstrom’s “Retro Strut,” a mass of large black sequins and recycled skirt and blouse pieces crowned by a vintage hat.
“Almost everything is from Serenity House [thrift shop],” Elstrom said, adding that a few details, like the necktie attached to her skirt, came “from my stash.”
Elstrom, a ceramist, is just one member of the artistic community that’s jumped into the BYOWAS.
Painter Jeff Tocher, multimedia artist Dani LaBlond, costume designer Stephens and dancer Lauren Jeffries-Johnson also have creations in the show, as do Flora Jackman, Gay Whitman and 13-year-old Zoe Tucker.
Jeffries-Johnson, owner of Udjat Beads in downtown Port Angeles, has brought her glittering, multicolored masks to Studio Bob for this event.
‘Upcycled’ and ‘repurposed’
The masks originally were made for “RestART the Park,” the Feb. 9 event in Webster’s Woods, the sculpture park surrounding the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center. Worn by Jeffries-Johnson and other lovers of the park, they looked like woodland fairies appearing amid the drizzle.
On Saturday night, art fans will have a chance to see the masks and other fashions up close. They will see how art is made from all manner of materials — from castoff clothing that has been “upcycled,” as with Elstrom’s ensemble, to “repurposed” packing foam in the case of Tucker’s dress.
Then there are the resurrected vintage ensembles, made by local artists and sponsored by Port Angeles businesses such as N-Dub Productions, Wilder Auto, Udjat Beads and Cafe New Day.
To find out more about the Bring Your Own Wearable Art Show, email Tucker at Sarah@TuckerArt.com, phone 360-775-4154 or find the Allé Stage page on Facebook.
For much more about Serenity House programs, visit www.SerenityHouseClallam.org.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
