Downtown gallery closes after 13 years

Art lovers will be short a gallery on First Friday.

Lorinda Knight closed the doors on her Lorinda Knight Gallery on Saturday after a 13-year run in downtown Spokane.

“It’s time to retire,” she said.

Knight and her husband, a retired college professor, plan to travel, she said. Their first three destinations are Los Angeles, New York and Greece, where she plans to visit as many art galleries and museums as possible.

While the 68-year-old Knight said she looks forward to not having to work, she described her decision as bittersweet.

“I’ll miss seeing so much good art,” Knight said.

The former interior designer opened her Spokane gallery on West Sprague Avenue in 1996. She was inspired by a newspaper article citing a need for a downtown location to showcase local and regional contemporary artists. Over the years, her gallery has hosted 140 exhibits and featured about 40 local and Northwest artists.

“I did it as much for the public as I did myself,” she said. “In a bigger city, there would have been 20 galleries like this. But here I could really make a difference.”

Knight announced her retirement last month on a postcard about November’s exhibit, paintings by Kay O’Rourke.

“Thank you for your support over the years,” Knight wrote.

People have been stopping by all month to wish her well, she said. One left a note reading, “You enriched our lives.”