POULSBO — Liberty Bay Gallery has reopened with double the space, including a small stage for live performances and space for indoor and outdoor sculptures.
The downtown Poulsbo gallery, 18830 Front St. NE, expanded into the space formerly occupied by The Dance Within (and before that, Potlatch Gallery). Owners Terry and Karyn Cott will host a celebration during Second Saturday Art Walk, Feb. 8, 3-8 p.m.
The Cotts want their gallery to be a place where art is an experience. Walk in, and you might see a guitarist trying one of Ron Davison’s cigar box guitars, a piece of art converting movement and emotion into soulful sounds.
The artists’ exploration with their individual medium teases the viewer’s imagination: Catherine Foster weaves kimonos and other sculptures out of copper strips. John Abromowski raises nature photography to a different level, using the silver-gelatin process to give his large-format black-and-white images a timeless quality. Terry Cott, who learned woodworking as a patternmaker for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, creates tables and cabinets that reflect the utility and elegance of the American Craftsman era. Karyn Cott’s kiln-form glasswork is as varied and colorful as it is ambitious.
The story is repeated with every artist represented — there are 50, soon to be 60 because of the expansion. Most if not all artists are from the Poulsbo area: Baskets; beadwork; clay masks; blown, cast and fused glass; collage; fiber art; hand-painted silk scarves; jewelry; leather goods; metalwork; mixed-media boxes; paintings (acrylics, oils, pastels and watercolors); composite photography; pottery; purses; raku; handbuilt stoneware.
When the Cotts opened the gallery on Feb. 1, 2012, Karyn said they wanted to promote downtown Poulsbo as an art district. The success of Liberty Bay Gallery, the number of galleries and teaching studios on the block (eight), and the number of local artists represented downtown (more than 200, according to the Cotts), substantiate downtown’s emergence as an art destination (lest we forget live theater, The Jewel Box, a block away).
Terry Cott, who’s also a fine photographer, said Liberty Bay Gallery attracts 150-200 people a day during the summer. “The local community really supports us big time,” he said.
Liberty Bay Gallery’s expansion coincides with the gallery’s second anniversary, downtown’s Second Saturday Art Walk, and the Winter Boat Rendezvous, Feb. 7-9.
“I think our timing is perfect,” he said.
Liberty Bay Gallery is located at 18830 Front St., downtown Poulsbo. Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
DOWNTOWN GALLERIES
— Bluewater Artworks Gallery and Framing
— Boatworks Gallery
— Front Street Gallery
— Liberty Bay Gallery
— Verksted Gallery
DOWNTOWN STUDIOS
— Dancing Brush
— Kitsap Mosaics
— Wide Mouth Frog Studio
