For those who couldn't imagine any more cultural activity at the Books & Company complex, the community now has something new to dig into.
Underground Art is opening today in the spacious basement of the combination book store, concert hall, salon cafe, artist studio, crafter's retail space and multifaceted gallery. Underground Art is a partnership of a collection of local artists who will share the display space and retail point, plus show the works of other local artists as well.
The principal art-ners are Carla Joseph, Shirley Babcock and Lenard Sanders with associate art-icipants Diane Levesque, Karen Erickson and Asta Sanders.
Doors to the downstairs studio and gallery will open today at 1 p.m.
Lenard Sanders holds a slide show of his photography upstairs in Art Space at 6:30 p.m.
Following that presentation, a reception will follow back downstairs in Underground Art with appetizers, door prizes, live painting demonstrations and more.
"We have four big rooms to use - a total floorspace of about 1,500 square feet," said Sanders. "We got an amazing deal from Owen (Lubbers, proprietor of Books & Company) and I think we are going to complement all the other stuff that goes on all over the place on the floors above us. I see a lot of ways we can all work together."
Underground Art can be viewed as its own form of local entertainment - a visual feast for those who want to view art - but it is primarily a commercial gallery. All the art on the walls and tables will be for sale.
"We will have our own work on display, we will be always interested in showing other people's work on consignment, and it helps us go to the next level as artists, ourselves," said Babcock. "I remember showing my art once, the people had to come over to my house, I was so embarrassed," by having the sights of domestic life intermingled with the paintings on makeshift display. "I had to try hiding the house while they were there. Here, I can properly display the art, and we can can do that for other people, too."
They already have a broad range of paintings, photography, woodwork, hand-etched and sandblasted glass, a lot of aboriginal-themed work and other original creations.
"We aren't just studio people," Sanders said, looking forward to the public interactions art galleries inspire. "We are working artists who are also fans of art. We are experienced.
" We love having conversations, and help people out in their own art. People ask me how to shoot the northern lights. Great! Let's talk about that. Come meet us. A lot of times you'll even see people working right here in the space."
