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ART ALIVE IN LA CONNER – The opening gala for Art's Alive last Friday filled Maple Hall with great art, wonderful food and enthusiastic appreciators of artists from our Pacific Northwest region. Invitational artists, and the reception, were on the first floor, but every room had art on the wall and sculptures on pedestals. Maggie Wilder had a well-deserved room of her own.
Art, appetizers and wine and lots of buzz about the quality of the show – in short, the Art's Alive opening gala Friday was "a wonderful night," observed La Conner Arts Foundation board member Sheila Johnson.
Attendees savored food and beverages capably served by a crew of volunteers that included Mary Davis, Joyce Welch and Gretchen Dykers.
They also examined artwork by invitational and open show artists throughout Maple Hall.
La Conner resident Kathy Wyman was looking for something that would fit into her hallway – something by a younger artist.
"I know lots of the older artists from 20 years of auctions for the Museum of Northwest Art," she said. "I come to see work by the younger ones."
Soon after, her selection sported a red "sold" sticker. By Sunday afternoon, about three dozen such stickers could be seen around the gallery. More sales followed Monday the 14th.
Voted the People's Choice winners were Coizie Bettinger, first place for "Driving Home from Edison;" Keith Clements, second for "Rainbow Bridge Reflections" and Margaret Arnett's "A Chuckanut Drive" and Mark Bistranin's "Sunrise Shadows," tied for third.
Organizers received lots of compliments on the quality of the show and art Johnson noted, and that people came from farther away.
Invitational artist Lynn Zimmerman enjoyed connecting with the community.
"Especially after being cooped up in the studio for months, it's so helpful to talk to people whose land it is that I'm painting," said the Bellingham artist, who often paints Skagit sloughs and waterways. "They give the most honest feedback and information about what I am painting in a deeper way."
She especially appreciated meeting a man whose property she painted his family has owned since the late 1800s.
Being on hand as one of her paintings was purchased by a local artist confirmed that the Art's Alive community is "amazingly supportive toward artists."
"I walked away with so much more than just purchases from the people I talked to," she said. "Art's Alive enriches the whole experience of being a painter here. I'm grateful."
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