Downtown Vancouver art galleries live chat transcript

Local downtown Vancouver art galleries; Angst Art Gallery, Art on the Boulevard, and North Bank Art Gallery joined Columbian.com readers to discuss their new exhibits premiering on the First Friday art walk and other upcoming shows. Angst will feature Zeb Andrews and his photography of Portland/Vancouver bridges. North Bank Artist Gallery will premiere the LOUD&Clear exhibit that includes a series of live performances and installations. Art on the Boulevard will have watercolor paintings titled “Birds and Blooms” featuring two Vancouver artists MaryJane Larson and Denise McFadden.

More to come! Join us next week when we chat with the Mayor of Vancouver, Tim Leavitt. The hour-long chat will begin at 11:00am on Fri. Apr. 6, 2012. Log on to www.columbian.com/chat to sign up and set a reminder for the event.

Art Gallery Live Chat Transcript Fri. Mar. 30, 2012:

Setareh Alizadeh: Welcome to today’s live chat! We will be joined by downtown Vancouver art galleries; Aurora Gallery Fine Art and Custom Framing, Angst Gallery, Art on the Boulevard, and North Bank Artist Gallery…We will start at 12:30. Send in your questions and comments and be the first to chat with our local galleries!

Art on the Boulevard: Hello! This is Kevin from Art on the Boulevard.

Setareh Alizadeh: Hello Kevin, thank you for joining us today!

Leah Jackson: This is Angst Gallery

Setareh Alizadeh: Hey Leah, thank you for joining us today. Iam going to wait a few more minutes while other panelist log on

Setareh Alizadeh : Thank you Kathi, great to have you on here!… Lets start off with telling everyone where each of your galleries are located.

Leah Jackson: Angst Gallery is located at 1015 Main Street Downtown Vancouver

Kathi Rick: North Bank Gallery is at 1005 MAin Street one door down from the newly refurbished Kiggins Theater.

Art on the Boulevard: Art on the Boulevard is located at 210 W. Evergreen Blvd (corner of Columbia and Evergreen) in the Vancouver Marketplace Bldg.

Setareh Alizadeh: Leah, would you like to tell our everyone a little bit more about First Friday and what it is all about? Kathi and Kevin, you guys can add any additional information for our readers

Leah Jackson: First Friday Artwalk is the monthly art opening for Vancouver Galleries. It is often a chance to speak with the artist and bring friends and family to stroll the streets in the evening and visit many galleries.

Setareh Alizadeh: What are the shows that will be preimering in your galleries for First Friday?

Kathi Rick: It is always really well attended btw – people seem to have a very good time and have a rare opportunity to interact with the artists themselves. There is also a wide range of art showcased from the decorative to the truly boundary pushing conceptual. We have a LOT of talent in our little burg here!

Leah Jackson: April 6th First Friday Artwalk Angst Gallery will feature Zeb Andrews and his photography. This show features the bridges of the Vancouver-Portland metro.

Art on the Boulevard: Our new show will be “Birds and Blooms” featuring two Vancouver artists MaryJane Larson and Denise McFadden. Both are watercolor artists. Denise will have a variety of bird paintings and MaryJane will be showing all paintings of flowers.

Kathi Rick: At North Bank we are having our annual collaboration with Dene Grigar’s DTC department from WSU Vancouver. Really innovative interactive, multimedia and digital art works. The show Loud & Clear will feature works by both local and internationally known artists.

Kathi Rick: Here is the specific press release information:

Washington State University Vancouver’s Creative Media & Digital

Culture Program (CMDC) and the North Bank Artists Gallery are collaborating to host LOUD & Clear, a month-long exhibit of sound and visual installations and performances. Featured in the exhibit, which opens on Friday, April 6, 2012, are the 2012 CMDC Artists in Residence, Matt Brislawn and Jackson 2Bears, as well as CMDC faculty and students. Along with the art by the visiting artists, visitors to the gallery will see videos, 3D animations, video and sound installations, and radio art by Will Luers, Kathi Rick, Brenda Grell, John Barber, and Dene Grigar. The Launch Party to be held on Friday, April 6 showcases the “Brizbomb” by Brislawn, a VJDJ piece by 2Bears called “Iron Tomahawks,” and the sensor-based drum installation and performance piece, “IMPACT,” by Geoff Wallace. Other performances are scheduled for each Friday night of April. Scheduled for April 13 is the “Battle of the DJ/VJs,” an evening of sound performances set as a competition among artists; April 20, “Animation and Video Screenings;” and April 27, the “premiere “of the new sound and video composition by Jackson 2Bears and the students in his Electronic Music course.

To view the event website, go to http://northbankartshow.wordpress.com/

The exhibit will be open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Performances take

place from 7:30-10:00 p.m. each Friday night. The exhibit and all events are free and open to the public. North Bank Artists Gallery is located at 1005 Main Street in

downtown Vancouver, WA.

Setareh Alizadeh: How long will these exhibits be in the galleries?

Art on the Boulevard: “Birds and Blooms” runs April 6th through May 26th.

Kathi Rick: North Bank shows run for the entire month.

Leah Jackson: The show at Angst Gallery will be from April 5th to April 28th

Sammie Alizadeh: Just curious what is the process for a local artist to get some of their work put into a gallery for first Fridays in the future?

Kathi Rick: North Bank Gallery is a co-op so you need to be a member to show here. But we are ALWAYS looking for new members though – you can go online to upload a membership app or can come down to the gallery and talk to me and pick one up

Art on the Boulevard: If an artist would like to submit work to be a part of the gallery, I usually have them submit 10 or so images representative of their work via email, along with a bio/artist statement, etc. I usually do a review for new work a few times a year.

Leah Jackson:I am always happy to have artists set up an appointment with an artist to talk about their work and talk about show possiblities. They can email me at leah.angstgallery@gmail.com

Setareh Alizadeh: To all our readers, if you have any other questions or comments for our guests please send them on in !

Setareh Alizadeh : To all of the galleries, what is a piece that is your favorite and viewers should check out?

Art on the Boulevard: I represent over 50 artists work….so picking a favorite would be really hard! :-) We have so many different styles and media, so theres something for everyone.

Setareh Alizadeh: Very understandable Kevin! do you have a favorite medium?

Kathi Rick: I am looking forward to the performance pieces included in Loud & Clear – always some good interaction and participation from the audience which is unusual in the visual arts

Art on the Boulevard: Hmmm…..personally I’ve always loved paintings, be it oil, pastel, acrylic or watercolor. But most of my personal collection is predominantly oil paintings.

Setareh Alizadeh: Leah has also sent one of Zeb Andrews photography

Art on the Boulevard: Loud and Clear looks like a very cool exhibit!

Setareh Alizadeh: Here are some watercolor paintings that Kevin was talking about “Going Up” by MaryJane Larson in watercolor

Leah Jackson: http://zebandrewsphotography.com/bridgescapes/

This Zeb Andrew’s website, particularly his Bridges work. In case anyone wants to take a peek.

Setareh Alizadeh : That is great! Thank you Leah. Will the Niche Wine Bar be open during your First Friday event?

Leah Jackson: We all change out our work every month so our main shows are different every First Friday.

Art on the Boulevard: Our new show is actually all watercolor paintings…

Leah Jackson: Niche will be open at 4:30pm so it’s a great place to have a glass of wine before the art walk.

Kathi Rick: BTW Niche is a LOVELY place to go and relax! GREAT wine selection!

Art on the Boulevard: I would agree with Kathi, and they also have beer!

Setareh Alizadeh: Great selections! what time will your galleries start to let people come in and see the art?

Art on the Boulevard: We open at 10 am and are open all day. First Friday usually gets going around 5 pm.

Kathi Rick: North Bank is open from 11:30am but the full First Friday show gets started at 5pm and goes until 9pm

Leah Jackson: Angst Gallery will be ready for the festivities at 5pm.

Setareh Alizadeh: Here is an interesting piece by Matt Brislawn called “BRIZBOMB” that will be apart of installations at North Bank

Setareh Alizadeh: Another that will be at North Bank, that Kathi has created herself (the top photo above the article). Kathi would you like to tell us a little bit about this piece?

Kathi Rick: Well, this was a piece created for the windows show. It is a collaboration with local artist Anne John called ‘Home is in your Head’ and is a multimedia piece with multiple projection sound and sculpture – it is a haunting piece and will be up in gallery 2 at North Bank.

Setareh Alizadeh: Here is a piece that will be at Art on the Boulevard apart of the “Birds and Bloom”

Setareh Alizadeh: With the time winding down, if any of our readers have any last minute questions please send them now

Setareh Alizadeh: Are the galleries open on the weekend?

Kathi Rick: YES! North Bank is open Saturdays from 11:30am -4:30pm

Art on the Boulevard: We are open Tues – Saturday 10 am to 5 pm, First Fridays of each month till 9 pm.

Leah Jackson: Angst Gallery is open on Saturdays at 10am. The Tea Bar Downtown is located in the back of the gallery and they are open on Saturday mornings so have a cup of tea and enjoy some art.

Kathi Rick: Yes North Banks full schedule is Tues-Sat 11:30am-4:30pm and until 9pm on First Fridays!… p.s. YES – the Tea at the Tea Bar is also fab as are the pies and homemade cinnamon rolls at Sweetie Pies across the street at SWOON!

Setareh Alizadeh: Wonderful!

Setareh Alizadeh: Is there any last minute thoughts you guys have to say to our readers before the chat ends?

Kathi Rick: remember too that parking downtown after 6pm is free as are weekends – and dang it i just got a ticket i was so busy chatting!

Art on the Boulevard: Thanks to all the people who come out and visit our local galleries we greatly appreciate!

Setareh Alizadeh: Thank you very much Leah, Kathi, and Kevin for joining us today! It has been a great time learning about First Friday and the exhibits!

Art on the Boulevard: Thank you for hosting us and giving us a chance to talk about our new shows!

Setareh Alizadeh: Don’t miss out next Friday April 6 when we chat with Mayor of Vancouver Tim Leavitt at 11:00am. Afterwards you can take a stroll in downtown Vancouver for the art galleries at 5pm for First Friday !!

Kathi Rick: YES – THANK YOU! – sorry caps lock on – didn’t mean to shout!

Setareh Alizadeh: Thank you all , until next time have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend =)