Art At Work Opens

A new gallery opens in downtown Spokane on Friday a lucky thing, despite its being the 13th.

Art at Work Gallery, in the former J.C. Penney Building at Post and Main, will host its grand opening from 5 to 8 p.m. with the exhibit, “Paper, Pastels & Uncle Harold.”

The gallery is sponsored by the Eastern Washington State Historical Society and the Cheney Cowles Museum, with Kate Duignan as manager.

The initial display will feature the papier mache art of Peggy Donovan; new pastels and mixed media by Pauline Haas; and new enamels, sculptures and drawings by Harold Balazs, sometimes known as “Uncle Harold.”

Some 57 other artists will also be exhibited with works in oils, acrylics, watercolors, ceramics, paper and collage.

Each month, Art at Work Gallery, with its entrance on Post, will reserve a special place to highlight the work of three artists, said Dunigan.

Everything displayed will be available for purchase or rent. Hours will be 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday or by appointment.

For more information, or to schedule an appointment, call Duignan at 458-3580.

Images of a culture

One way to chart the diversity distance of Spokane’s African American community since the 1930s is to attend a photography display at the John F. Kennedy Library on Eastern Washington University’s Cheney campus.

Wally Hagin, an 83-year-old photographer and jazz musician, has donated 13,000 of photographs to the Cheney Cowles Museum that chronicle Spokane’s black community during the past six decades. While he took most of the pictures, some are from the Hagin family’s albums.

The EWU exhibit is a sampling of those photos.

His photo exhibit is sponsored by the African American Education Program at EWU and Cheney Cowles.

The photos will be available for viewing in the library’s Archive Room during its regular hours, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 359-6263.

At other galleries

“Jazz Expressions,” which explores the subject of music through color and form, is on display at Twin Totems Art & Framing Gallery in Colbert.

Megan Drew, a Port Orchard artist, draws figures and landscapes to depict her love of music and deep interest in capturing moments of emotion.

Also at Twin Galleries this month is Dan Donley, a Curley, Wash., farmer who developed his woodworking skills over the past 25 years.

Blue Raven Designs is the business name for Donley’s hand-crafted furniture and carvings, each one-of-a-kind with hand-rubbed finishes.

While painting on furniture, he uses natural milk paints, used by such ancient cultures as the Egyptians, because they don’t chip, crack, peel or fade.

A reception for Donley will be from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the gallery, 5117 E. Greenbluff Road in Colbert. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

Coulee Dam in Tacoma

“Vanessa Helder’s Grand Coulee,” a series of 22 watercolors by the late artist and instructor, will be on display through Jan. 10 at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma.

Helder, who died in 1968, was an oil and watercolor art instructor at the Work Progress Administration’s Spokane Art Center during the construction of the dam in the early 1940s. She was the only unattended woman allowed in the work area.

Hours for the museum, 1911 Pacific, are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, with extended hours until 8 on Thursday. Cost is $7 for adults; $6 for those 60 and older.