by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts presents Juried Show, Art in the Park

This summer, be sure you make some time to visit the Gallery at the Park in Richland and see the annual Juried Show, which begins July 2.

The 2019 Juried Show features works by artists from around the Pacific Northwest. Some of the featured artists will even win monetary prizes, with more than $2,500 being awarded altogether.

This year’s juror is Gina Freuen, an artist and educator with a ceramics and mixed media studio in Spokane. From 1996 through 2016, she was on the teaching faculty in the art department at Gonzaga University, and in 2013 she joined the Trackside Studio Ceramic Art Gallery as an exhibiting partner in its monthly exhibits. Now, she volunteers as a drawing teacher for high-school students at Riverpoint Academy.

Over a 40-year career, Freuen has created a unique collection of multimedia art and complex porcelain and stoneware vessels.

To learn more about Freuen’s work, check out her website at ginafreuen.com.

Art in the Park

This year marks the Allied Arts Association’s 69th annual Art in the Park celebration. The open-air festival, which is free to attend, attracts visitors to browse and purchase works from more than 200 artists. Stop by to see artwork from painters, jewelers, photographers, woodworkers and more.

Along with a wide array of arts and crafts, Art in the Park also features entertainment and food provided by local nonprofit organizations.

Art in the Park is a two-day event that is fun, family-friendly and has something for everyone! It takes place at Howard Amon Park on Friday, July 26, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, July 27, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Children’s workshops

Throughout the summer, the Gallery at the Park offers week-long classes for children ages 7 to 16.

From July 15 to 19, Gail Roadhouse will teach “Watercolor: Exploring Space” and guide students through five watercolor paintings themed after space exploration and NASA.

In “Cultural Art from Around the World” from July 29 to Aug. 2, students will study a different country each day and create artwork based on that country with instructor Felicia Follum.

These classes are held from 10 a.m. to noon for ages 7 through 11 and from 1 to 3 p.m. for ages 12 through 16. The fee for each workshop is $60, and class sizes are limited.

For more information, visit the Gallery at the Park at 89 Lee Boulevard near the entrance to Howard Amon Park in Richland, or visit online at galleryatthepark.org.

The Allied Arts Gallery at the Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

View the archived July 2019 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts show features scholarship recipients

Each May, the Gallery at the Park in Richland celebrates students with an exhibition featuring the recipients of the Allied Arts Association’s student scholarships. To help support visual arts in the community, Allied Arts awards annual scholarships to Columbia Basin College students and students working toward a master’s degree in fine arts.

This year, scholarships went to Li Wang, a student attending CBC, and Todd McKinney, a graduate student at the University of Washington.

Li Wang

Li Wang grew up in Jiangxi, a small city in southern China known for its rivers and lakes, and has lived in the United States for seven years. Before moving to the U.S., she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology. She became interested in medical illustration when one of her classmates mentioned some difficulties he’d run into while writing a paper: He could not find a professional medical illustrator to draw an accurate, polished diagram.

This was the first Wang had ever heard of medical illustration, since Chinese universities do not offer this degree. After doing some research, she decided this career would be a perfect fit for her due to her biological background and love of drawing. Now she is studying at CBC to improve her art skills with the goal of eventually applying to a graduate program in medical illustration.

Todd McKinney

Todd McKinney, the other scholarship student, is from the Bay Area in California. His father was an industrial painter who wanted his son to follow in his footsteps — but McKinney went into the fine arts instead.

As an undergraduate, he fell ill with pseudo-tumor cerebri, a rare degenerative disease of the brain, which changed the course of his life. He writes on his website, “As my ability to function deteriorated I began to question the nature of existence. I began my investigation of chaos, which led me to this road.”

Though McKinney has learned many forms of art, painting is his passion. Currently, he uses random drips, tape, mops and brooms for his paintings, which results in experimental, abstract works of art. Because he can never fully control the outcome of paint drips, his paintings organically evolve on their own. He continually adds layers until the painting is complete, demonstrating his idea that “chaos eventually blossoms into a pattern.”

For more information or to view McKinney’s work, visit his website at toddraymondmckinney.com.

The student scholarship show will be on display at the Gallery at the Park from May 7 through May 31. The artist reception will be on May 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. in the gallery.

The Gallery at the Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

Visit the gallery at 89 Lee Boulevard near the entrance to Howard Amon Park in Richland, or online at galleryatthepark.org.

View the archived May 2019 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

A Gallery Full of Gifts

In the 1940s a small group of artists wanted a place to paint and display their artwork. In 1948 they wrote a constitution and officially founded the Allied Arts Association: a nonprofit organization that believes a vibrant community deserves rich visual arts opportunities.

Today, Allied Arts provides art exhibitions and education from the Gallery at the Park. Local and regional artists bring their original handmade works for display and sale to the public.

Allied Arts is also responsible for Art in the Park, a major community event for the last seventy years. At this open-air festival visitors may browse and buy a wide array of arts and crafts from more than 200 artists. Art in the Park also features activities and live musical performances.

These types of events fund Allied Arts’ student scholarships and community outreach programs, like Beads Behind Bars, and Art Connection. These programs play an important role in the community by making art education more accessible, and allowing participants to explore their creativity and gain a greater sense of their own value.

If you’re looking for a unique gift, or some beautiful art, stop by the Gallery at the Park—you’ll be supporting local artists and encouraging arts in the community. You can also see new work from a variety of artists at the gallery space which features a different exhibit every month. And if you’re getting excited about art, sign up for one of the workshops offered at the Gallery at the Park!

View the archived Spring 2019 issue of Taylored Living

by Marisa Quirk

Photos, sculpture displayed at Gallery at the Park

This March, the newest exhibit at the Gallery at the Park in Richland features works by Harley Cowan and Nathan Robles. This show displays a combination of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art, with Cowan presenting his photography and Robles his sculptures.

Cowan is a photographer and architect based in Portland. He studied large-format photography with Ray Bidegain and became a research fellow in architectural heritage documentation and preservation, with work in the Historic American Buildings Survey collection at the Library of Congress. He has also lectured for the Portland Art Museum, the Society of Architectural Historians, Docomomo Oregon, the University of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Preservation Field School.

The photographs featured at the Gallery at the Park are in a series commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Manhattan Project. Though Cowan had to work hard to get the necessary permissions to document the Hanford Reservation, he believes in the importance of archiving and recording history. Eventually, he was given authorization to spend a week at the site, which he took full advantage of by photographing everything he could.

Cowan’s Manhattan Project is a unique blend of photography, architecture and history that uses stunning artwork to pay tribute to a significant event in our city’s past. See more of Cowan’s work by going to harleycowan.com.

Sculpture

Along with Cowan’s photographs, the exhibit features contemporary sculptures by Nathan Robles. Robles has been interested in sculpting for many years. Growing up, he would receive modeling clay and woodcarving tools as birthday and Christmas gifts. He studied art at Columbia Basin College in Pasco for three years, and in 2014 he graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a degree in art.

To create his sculptures, Robles often uses scrap metal and other materials that would otherwise be thrown away. He has a remarkable talent for taking what could essentially be trash and transforming it into something wonderful and inspiring, making figures, monuments, robotics and fish that appear dynamic and convey a sense of motion. Visit Robles’ website at wroblewskistudio.blogspot.com.

The Cowan and Robles’ exhibit will be on display at the gallery from March 5 through 29. The artist reception will be held on March 8 from 6 to 9 p.m. Then, on March 9 at 2 p.m., Cowan will have a demonstration and talk on silver gelatin photography methods and equipment. Both the reception and the demonstration and talk are free and open to the public.

The Gallery at the Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Visit at 89 Lee Boulevard in Richland, or go online to galleryatthepark.org.

View the archived March 2019 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts features ‘Empty Bowls’ and Cyber Art 509

This February, the Gallery at the Park in Richland will feature mixed media art from Cyber Art 509, a cooperative of artists from the 509 area code — in other words, artists from the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas.

Cyber Art 509 currently has more than 60 members. To become a member, simply fill out a membership form — the organization accepts all artists. After that, you have the opportunity to participate in Cyber Art 509 events such as Tour de Arts, a soirée at Tucannon Cellars where participating members showcase one piece of art, and Plein Air Paint Out, which includes workshops, plein air painting and a judged show and reception. For more information, visit cyberart509.com.

On Feb. 16 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., four Cyber Art 509 members will do demonstrations at the Gallery at the Park. In the morning, Patrick Fleming will demonstrate throwing pots, and Margo Fox will give a presentation involving oils. Then, in the afternoon, Gail Roadhouse will do a watercolor demonstration and Janet Hutchison will paint with acrylics.

Empty Bowls

Along with the Cyber Art 509artwork, the Gallery at the Park will also present “Empty Bowls,” which is part of a national movement to end world hunger.

Local artists have donated handmade bowls of various sizes, media and styles to the cause, and anyone who donates $25 will have the opportunity to choose a bowl from a designated selection to take home. All proceeds from the event go toward the Tri-Cities Food Bank.

The Cyber Art 509 and Empty Bowls exhibitions will be on display at the Gallery at the Park from Feb. 5 to March 1, and the reception will be held on Feb. 10 from 1 to 3 p.m.

Visit the Gallery at the Park at 89 Lee Boulevard near the entrance to Howard Amon Park in Richland, or go online to galleryatthepark.org. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

View the archived February 2019 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts presents fiber arts exhibit inspired by art

The Gallery at the Park will feature a new exhibit in January — Desert Fiber Arts’ “Art Inspired Art” show.

Desert Fiber Arts is a nonprofit organization for fiber-arts enthusiasts. It originated in 1974 with the purpose of promoting education, interest and participation relating to fiber arts. Members of the organization come from all around the Tri-Cities and surrounding areas.

In September 2014, Desert Fiber Arts opened a studio in Kennewick and made it available to anyone looking to exercise their creativity. The studio provides warped looms, spinning wheels and carders, and study groups meet to explore topics such as tatting, knitting and basketry. Stop by to learn from the area’s leading fiber experts.

Each Desert Fiber Arts piece at the Gallery at the Park exhibit will be showcased alongside the item or photograph that inspired it. Inspiration can come from anywhere, and this show gives visitors the opportunity to see what inspires these artists, be it nature, photographs, other artworks or anything else.

“Art Inspired Art” will be on display at the Gallery at the Park from Jan. 9 through Feb. 1, and the reception will be held on Jan. 13 from 1 to 3 p.m.

For more information on Desert Fiber Arts, visit their website at desertfiberarts.org. You can also visit the Desert Fiber Arts studio at 101 N. Union St., Suite 208, in Kennewick.

Workshop

Desert Fiber Arts will be also be hosting an introduction-to-weaving workshop on Jan. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Using pre-warped looms, participants will create a sampler of different weaving techniques. They will learn plain weave, pick-up and textures, lace patterns and finishing techniques.

The cost of the class is $60 for Allied Arts members and $66 for non-members. Register online at galleryatthepark.org or at the gallery at 89 Lee Boulevard near the entrance to Howard Amon Park in Richland.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

View the archived January 2019 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Gallery Aglow helps to fund outreach programs

If you haven’t yet had a chance to stop in at the Allied Arts Gallery at the Park in Richland this holiday season, don’t worry — the gallery will continue to feature its Gallery Aglow exhibition through December.

In November, local and regional artists submitted hundreds of paintings and fine crafts to Gallery Aglow, a show that has been an annual tradition at the gallery for more than 30 years. Now you can visit the Gallery at the Park to see beautiful decorations and to purchase unique handmade gifts.

You can also buy wreaths, trees and other holiday décor made by Allied Arts volunteers. All proceeds from these items go toward funding the Allied Arts Association and its various community outreach programs such as Beads Behind Bars and Empty Bowls.

Beads Behind Bars

Lucy Dole, a jewelry artist for the Gallery at the Park, started Beads Behind Bars in 2008 as a way of helping young people incarcerated at the Benton Franklin Juvenile Detention Center. Every Sunday, Dole brings beads, clasps, wires and other jewelry pieces to the detention center and teaches beading classes to eligible youth.

These classes give participants the chance to explore their creativity and experience a greater sense of their own value. They see the result of their good choices in designing their jewelry pieces, and each person ends up with creative, artistic, wearable works of art. The classes also allow the youth to have a positive connection with the community.

Fundraisers such as Gallery Aglow are one of the ways in which Allied Arts is able to offer plenty of quality supplies for the Beads Behind Bars program.

Empty Bowls

Another program these fundraisers benefit is Empty Bowls, a national movement that aims to promote awareness and raise money for the fight to end world hunger. As part of our community’s contribution to this project, the Gallery at the Park displays and sells handmade bowls to raise money for the Tri-Cities Food Bank.

This December, you can view beautiful works of art, finish up your holiday shopping and support your local community all in one trip by visiting the Gallery at the Park, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

The gallery is at 89 Lee Boulevard in Richland and online at galleryatthepark.org. Its hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

View the archived December 2018 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts presents ‘Gallery Aglow,’ Christmas Market

Get all your holiday shopping done early at the Gallery at the Park in Richland! Throughout November and December, the Allied Arts Association’s gallery will be hosting its Gallery Aglow event.

Gallery Aglow has been an annual tradition for more than 30 years, and each November, local and regional artists submit hundreds of works to the show. Stop by the Gallery at the Park to see beautiful decorations and to purchase unique, handmade gifts such as ceramics, glassware, jewelry, fiber art and metal work.

During this event, you can also buy wreaths, trees and other holiday décor. These items were all made by Allied Arts volunteers, and the proceeds go toward funding the Allied Arts Association, which in turn gives back to the community.

Fundraisers such as this allow the association to continue providing scholarships and expanding programs like Beads Behind Bars and Art Connection. These programs play an important role in the community by making art education more accessibleand allowing participants to explore their creativity and gain a greater sense of their own value.

Christmas Market

On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the Gallery at the Park will present its own version of the Christmas market, a German custom dating all the way back to the late Middle Ages.

The Christmas season would be marked by the appearance of these street markets, which traditionally included drinks, Christmas cookies and handmade Christmas items such as toys and decorations.

At the Gallery at the Park, volunteers will be providing complimentary candy and warm cider, and in the spirit of the traditional European Christmas markets, they will also have gingerbread cookies for sale.

Guests will also be able to purchase unique Christmas items made by gallery artists.

Visit the Gallery at the Park at 89 Lee Boulevard near the entrance to Howard Amon Park in Richland, or visit online at galleryatthepark.org. The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

On the days of the Christmas Market event, the Gallery will have extended hours, staying open until 8:30 p.m.

View the archived November 2018 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Allied Arts Association celebrates 70 years of art

Allied Arts is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. To celebrate, Allied Arts members will be hosting a party this month at the Gallery at the Park in Richland, and everyone — including nonmembers — can attend.

Allied Arts got its start in the 1940s when Thelma Pearson, an art teacher at Jefferson Elementary School, brought together a small group of artists to hold workshops, paint and organize displays of their work. In 1948, the artists wrote up a constitution and officially founded the Allied Arts Association.

During the years that followed, members of Allied Arts participated in seminars, art classes, field trips and other activities in the community. In 1950, they held the first Sidewalk Show at the Uptown Shopping Center in Richland. Artists hung paintings on clotheslines, and some members also displayed crafts and three-dimensional artworks on card tables. The show — now called Art in the Park — has become an annual tradition and is a major community event in Howard Amon Park.

Allied Arts Association has also spread art awareness and engaged with the community through its affiliations with other arts organizations. When Allied Arts partnered with the Washington Arts Association in 1950, the groups were able to bring exhibits and lectures from prominent Washington artists to Richland.

Governor’s Award

In 1975, Allied Arts received the Washington State Governor’s Award for outstanding, sustained volunteer effort in promoting the visual arts in the community. With the award came a commemorative gift — a raku vessel by Seattle potter Jean Griffith. Both the award certificate and the raku vessel are displayed in the building.

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that members were able to keep the building and its activities running and earn this award without receiving grant money, but with dedicated volunteers and commissions from gallery and Sidewalk Show sales.

In 1997 and 1998, Allied Arts Association celebrated its 50th anniversary with an exhibit by renowned glass-blowing artist Dale Chihuly. A group of volunteers at the time decided the gallery needed some fixing up, so Rosemary Merckx and Marian Hart painted a southwestern theme for the women’s restroom and Lisa Day designed whimsical walls for the men’s room. Both restrooms have since been remodeled.

Gallery’s history

In 1999, Lisa Day’s mosaic class elected to cover the retaining walls at the front and west side of the gallery with tile. Day designed a fanciful fish pattern, and during the summer of 2000, a large crew of volunteers got together to break the tile, cut each piece, fasten it on and add grout.

Many of those volunteers later became valuable Allied Arts Association members. To this day, if you stop by the gallery, you can see a tile with volunteer names above the steps from the patio to the lower entrance.

Doubtless, anyone who attends the 70th anniversary dinner should take some time to view the history of the building. These additions throughout the years show what people can do when they work together toward a common goal. With every new project they undertake, Allied Arts Association volunteers demonstrate the power of teamwork.

The celebration

The dinner, “Celebrating 70 Years of Art,” will take place on Oct. 12 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Gallery at the Park, at 89 Lee Boulevard in Richland. If you would like to attend and see some of the history for yourself, you can purchase tickets at the gallery or on the website for $10.

Each ticket will include food, wine, door prizes and live musical entertainment.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

For information and tickets to the Oct 12 dinner, visit the gallery online at galleryatthepark.org.

View the archived October 2018 issue of The Entertainer

by Marisa Quirk

Tom Hausken, Larry Metcalf are ‘Working Through It’ in Richland

Throughout September and October, the Gallery at the Park in Richland will showcase Tom Hausken and Larry Metcalf’s exhibit “Working Through It – 35 Years.” The title of the show refers to the idea that working is a constant part of an artist’s life, regardless of what life throws at them.

Metcalf, who has been a friend and mentor to Hausken for 35 years, taught him to “work no matter what the outcome” and to “hold the creative process close to one’s heart in order to nurture and maintain a right and pure aesthetic.” Hausken was impressed by his friend’s devotion to his craft and by his commitment to his students, his family and his community.

For more than four decades, Metcalf has been a member of the Northwest Designer Craftsmen, a group of artists promoting excellence of design and craftsmanship. He has received the organization’s first ever Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hausken studied art at Seattle Pacific University and the University of Washington. He has received two fellowship residencies from the Vermont Studio Center — a Clowes Fellowship in 2010 and a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship in 2016. In 2017, he was the artist in residence at the Yakima Valley Museum.

Hausken creates bold, effusive paintings that are rich in texture and layering. For this exhibit, he has returned to a saturated color palette, reflecting an optimism of an earlier time. He describes his work as “making friends with the memory, melancholy and fragility of the world we inhabit.”

Meanwhile, Metcalf has provided the three-dimensional art for the show. His pieces are based on the form of a pagoda — a place for solitude. Thepieces were made using white willow, raffia, gold leaf and felt. They are dramatic in their absence of color, with light creating shadows on the folded paper.

“Working Through It – 35 Years” will be on display at the Gallery at the Park until Oct. 26. The reception will be held on Sept. 7 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Adult workshop

On Sept. 14, 15 and 16, Deanne Lemley will be hosting a three-day “Watercolor En-Plein-Air” workshop. The fee for the class is $420, and you can register online or at the gallery. View Deanne Lemley’s watercolor paintings at deannelemley.com.

The Gallery at the Park is open from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

View the archived September 2018 issue of The Entertainer