Art Walk: Creative scene in Vancouver nurtures variety of artists

Opening a gallery is the art world’s equivalent of fashion’s new black in downtown Vancouver and Uptown Village. Eight new gallery spaces have sprung up since this time last year, many of them in just the past month or two, and several local businesses have started displaying rotating art and joining in First Friday festivities such as downtown Vancouver’s monthly Art Walk.

“Everyone I know seems to own an art gallery now,” said Kristopher Chrisopulos, who along with Lincoln’s Beard band mates Tyler Morgan and Dwayne Spence runs Lincoln’s Gallery in downtown Vancouver, which opened in September.

Lincoln’s Gallery is across the hall from Rainy Day Gallery, which was started in July by the trio’s friend, Brian Ripp, owner of Divergent Clothing.

Art is becoming increasingly accessible in Vancouver as the number and variety of venues expands.

“We keep adding more and more to the scene down here,” said Kevin Weaver, director of Art on the Boulevard. “The more galleries you have, the better, because you create more of an arts district.”

First Thursday in Portland’s Pearl District is so successful in part because of the high concentration of galleries. Vancouver is moving closer to that level of saturation.

“The more you have, the wider range of people you attract,” Weaver said.

When Weaver joined Art on the Boulevard in 2007, there were five or six galleries participating in Vancouver’s First Friday Art Walk. Now there are at least 14, plus some local restaurants and retailers.

Lincoln’s Gallery features work by Morgan, Spence and Chrisopulos, as well as other local artists. Chrisopulos teaches art at Prairie High School, and Morgan is a history teacher at Camas High School, and work by past and current students has helped fill the gallery.

Seeing their teacher engaging in art in the real world is inspiring for students, said Chrisopulos, a 33-year-old Vancouver resident.

o What: First Friday Art Walk.

o When: Most participating venues are open 5-9 p.m., though hours may vary by location.

o Where: Throughout downtown Vancouver and Uptown Village.

o Cost: Free.

“I think it really makes a great impact on my students that it’s not just something we’re doing in the classroom,” he said. “For them to see someone who is living it and doing it makes art more accessible.”

To learn more about Vancouver’s arts scene, click here

Neighboring galleries

Rainy Day and Lincoln’s galleries aren’t the only examples of separate but adjacent spaces run by friends. A few blocks away above Rosemary Cafe & Espresso Bar, roommates Olin Unterwegner and Ossie Bladine recently opened Guerrilla Gallery and Tryckpress Galleri, respectively.

Angst Gallery

1015 Main St.

http://www.angstgallery.com

360-253-1742

Art on the Boulevard

210 W. Evergreen Blvd. Suite 300

http://www.artontheboulevard.org

360-750-4499

Aurora Gallery

1004 Main St.

http://www.auroragalleryonline.com

360-696-0449

Brickhouse Bar & Grill

109 W. 15th St.

http://vancouverbrickhouse.com

360-695-3686

Firehouse Glass

518 Main St.

http://www.firehouseglass.com

360-695-2660

Guerrilla Gallery

1001 Main St. Suite C

http://www.guerrilla-media.com

360-518-9738

Hidden Gallery (inside The Courtyard Coffee Lounge in the Academy building)

400 E. Evergreen Blvd. Suite 213

206-794-2397

Lincoln’s Gallery

108 W. 9th St.

http://www.lincolnsgallery.com

lincolnsgallerymail@gmail.com

Niche Wine & Art (Coming soon)

1013 Main St.

360-980-8352

North Bank Artists Gallery

1005 Main St.

http://www.northbankartistsgallery.com

360-693-1840

Raging Sage Coffee Co.

1104 Main St. Suite 111

360-901-6888

Rainy Day Gallery

106 W. 9th St.

http://www.rainydaygallery.com

360-713-2934

Rand Jeweler

112 E. Evergreen Blvd.

http://www.randjeweler.com

360-314-2474

Sixth Street Gallery

105 W. 6th St.

http://www.sixthstreetgallery.com

360-693-7340

The Space Artists Collective

2315 Main St.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Space-Art-Collective/295410036748

360-921-0147

Stray Gallery

2608 W. Esther St.

http://www.straygallery.com

360-326-4141

Tryckpress Galleri

1001 Main St. Suite B

971-237-1397

Visitors walk up the exterior stairs and enter a foyer, from which they can turn right into Tryckpress or proceed straight into Guerrilla. The two doorways are portals into very different artistic worlds.

Guerrilla Gallery opened in April, and participated in its inaugural First Friday this month. Vancouver native Unterwegner, 27, shows many of his own oil and spray paint graffiti-inspired pieces, as well as other abstract art and digital collage work he’s done. He also uses the venue to spotlight friends’ creations.

Art is at the core of Guerrilla Gallery, but Unterwegner sees it as more of a multipurpose space. It’s a place for artists to come together and offers a nightlife alternative to bars, he said.

Unterwegner runs Guerrilla-Media.com, a social network for local artists, musicians and businesses, so he has many connections from which to draw when planning programming at Guerrilla Gallery. The gallery often has live music from such local groups as The Shivas, we play quiet, Oigen and Padraic Finbar Hagerty-Hammond.

These events aren’t limited to First Fridays. Guerrilla Gallery typically is open every Friday night with activities such as live music and painting demonstrations.

Next door, Tryckpress is a slightly more subdued space. Tryckpress had a soft opening for the April First Friday, and its grand opening during the May 7 Art Walk. Bladine, the 25-year-old editor in chief of The Vancouver Voice, so far has shown his oil-on-canvas paintings and pastel work, as well as acrylic-on-canvas pieces by his mother, Michelle Bladine, and pottery by his aunt’s partner, Roger Allen.

Bladine, who grew up in McMinnville, Ore., and now lives in Vancouver, also displayed some ink and oil pastel drawings he and his best friend from high school, Corey Adams, did when they were 16 years old. Adams made most of the cedar frames for Bladine’s art, using gun shells as hardware.

Bladine describes his art as a mix of abstract and impressionist styles. It’s very different from Unterwegner’s, so visitors can see a wide range of art at one address.

Bladine is keeping Tryckpress open late on the first and third Fridays of each month. He too has live music, but his is earlier in the night, then Unterwegner takes the reins.

“It’s nice because we can each do our own thing, yet we can still coordinate,” Bladine said.

‘Like night and day’

Even those like Bladine and Unterwegner who are part of the groundswell find it almost hard to believe how rapidly arts offerings are expanding in Vancouver.

“The difference between now and last year is like night and day,” Unterwegner said.

Many of these new galleries are being started by first-timers in their 20s and early- to mid-30s, but at least one comes from a veteran of the arts scene. Leah Jackson, owner of Angst Gallery on Main Street, has been active in the Vancouver arts community since 2004. She recently took over the space next to Angst that had been Gallery 21 and is opening Niche Wine & Art.

French doors connect Angst and Niche, which Jackson hopes to have open in mid-June. Niche is a restaurant with an emphasis on wine. There’s a piano and space for live music, an open, galley-style kitchen, booth and bar seating and a living room area. Niche will feature work by local artists such as Anne John, Jason Phelps and Andrew Kaiser.

Niche is helping to fill the void left by Gallery 21, the former artists co-op that closed in April 2009 after 21 years due to dwindling membership and sales .

Nearby Rand Jeweler also is helping to pick up where Gallery 21 left off. Vancouver native Rand Schiltz opened the jewelry shop in November, and hosted his first Art Walk event in January.

Schiltz is a longtime friend of Barbara Van Nostern, a Gallery 21 founding member. Van Nostern’s watercolors, as well as collages by her husband, Dean, line the walls at Rand Jeweler. A recent exhibit focused on work inspired by the couple’s trips to Italy and Greece.

Schiltz’s jewelry, most of which he makes himself on-site, is featured as well.

Schiltz used to attend First Friday Art Walks as a patron, and he’s enjoying life as a participant just as much.

“It’s a neat deal for people to come down here and spend an evening in downtown,” he said. “It’s a nice place to be on a Friday night.”