Artwork courtesy of TwispWorks
BY LAURELLE WALSH
Doors around Twisp open to the arts on Saturday (June 8) as six arts partners come together to celebrate Art Walk.
Open Merc! runs from 4-6:30 p.m. at The Merc Playhouse. Musicians and performers of all types are invited to perform in this casual, coffeehouse-style venue. The event is free; beer and wine are available for purchase.
Confluence Gallery and Art Center opens its new show “Interpreting the Methow, Plein Aire to Studio,” with an artists’ reception from 4-8 p.m.
Peligro Metals Studio will be showing “From the Wardrobe,” featuring sculptural pieces by Ann Dunbar, and “Future Heirloom Jewelry” by Hana Hull and Nancy Daniels Hubert.
TwispWorks will be abuzz with numerous arts activities all afternoon and into the evening. Several of the 17 campus partners will have studios open, with special classes offered at three.
From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., create a wearable piece of art by pounding flowers and leaves to make a unique scarf in Sara Ashford’s “Flower Pounding” class at Culler Studio. Cost of the class is $60. Contact cullerstudio@gmail.com to register.
Two drop-in classes run from 4-8 p.m. Stop by Jerry Merz’s metal art studio in the South Bay to forge a custom metal hook, or create a hip leather cuff at Sarah Jo Lightner’s Glitter N Grit Studio. The cost to make a cuff is $15. Contact sarahlightner@rocketmail.com to register.
A Chalk Art Extravaganza welcomes artists of all ages to decorate the TwispWorks parking lot, along with food, drink, music and the opening of Spartan Art’s inaugural show “Recycled Air” from 4-8 p.m.
“Recycled Air” is a show along the lines of the Bread and Puppet Cheap Art Manifesto, according to curator Laura Gunnip. Paintings that were “saved from the trash heap or forgotten thrift store gems” have been reconceptualized and repurposed to hang in the Spartan Art Project’s first show. “Nothing in the show is over $50,” Gunnip said.
The doors of the mobile gallery will remain open during the month-long show, and art will be refreshed as the show progresses, according to co-curator Tori Karpenko.
“The idea is to have as many people involved in creating and repurposing art as possible,” Gunnip said. The original paintings, mostly from the era of the 1950s to ’70s, will be modified by a group of around 10 artists, adding painting, collage, writing or photography to embellish the pieces.
Those interested in purchasing art may contact Karpenko at (509) 846-3611.
At 6 p.m., raise a glass to the Spartan Art team, Steve Ward, Matt Armbrust, Jeff Winslow and friends who transformed a 37-foot, 1951 Spartan Imperial Mansion silver travel trailer into a mobile art gallery thanks to a crowd-funded Kickstarter.com campaign.
From 6:30-8 p.m. the Valley Teen Center hosts music with Ramblin’ John and OkanAnnie.
Art Walk is sponsored by Methow Arts Alliance, Confluence Gallery and Art Center, The Merc Playhouse, TwispWorks, Twisp Chamber of Commerce and Door No.3. For more information contact Methow Arts at 997-4004.
