Visual

Painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, screenprinting, photography, architecture, textiles, crafts, and so much more. If you love the visual arts, don’t miss First Fridays, presented by the Downtown Spokane Partnership. Find your new favorite gallery via our interactive art map. 

Event: February 14
Valentine’s Day Art Show and Dishman Hills Conservancy Benefit

L.R. Montgomery, Artist in Residence at the Dishman Hills, will host an art show on February 14, 2020 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Shape Executive Center, 5915 S. Regal. Original, impressionist, oil paintings of Dishman Hills landscapes by L.R. will be on display for viewing and purchase, and a portion of the proceeds from each sale will go to the Dishman Hills Conservancy. This event is open to the pubic. Tickets are $10 per person, and can be purchased at the door or on the Dishman Hills Conservancy’s website at DishmanHills.org/Events. Complimentary champagne and light refreshments will be provided.

Artist
Larry Ellingson

My visual work is a kind of additive sculpture, combining assemblage, painting, photography and fabricating. Some pieces have lights and sound. I’m also a sound artist, composing, performing and producing music utilizing electronics, saxophone and found sound.

It’s fun to make stuff that’s interesting to look at. Finding new ways of seeing the commonplace seems like a good idea to me. Many of us daydream and wander through our imaginations. I bring back souvenirs.

Artist
Kathryn Alexander, MA

Kathryn Alexander was born in Michigan in 1942 and has been an active resident of Spokane since 2014 serving as chair of her neighborhood council and representative to the Community Assembly. A photographer for over 40 years she began showing her work in 2018.
Alexander has a strong background in the textile arts, owning one of the first weaving and spinning stores in the country; she attended the California College of the Arts in 1972-1973 and studied under Trudy Guremonprez. Her interest in texture and color can still be seen in her photography.

Artist
Joshua Martel

I paint contemporary abstract and realism. I like to paint large animals and people depicting emotions, through their character. This is a strong way to capture peoples attention and has become my favorite way to tell a story to the public. I strive to stimulate and bring forth new thoughts within the communities I paint in, as well as showcasing their community to bring a sense of pride, joy, and momentum. Art is the universal language that all can understand to some shape or form. My goal as an artist is to use this language to help create positive change that this world deserves.

Artist
Gay Waldman

Since 1985 Gay Waldman has been actively showing in juried shows and galleries in the Northwest. Her intuitive portfolio embraces floral, landscape, architectural, and abstract imagery. For twenty years Gay worked in her darkroom and since 2005 she exclusively uses Photoshop and Painter to make her artwork. She shoots original photographs, adds drawing, overlays scanned objects, and digitally builds original art and collage. Her studio offers art commissions, consultation, photo-editing, and a full custom picture frame shop.

Artist
Callie McCluskey

People today have the chance through social media to share every aspect of their daily lives. There is a cultural pressure fueled by modern media and consumerism where one is compelled to filter this digital identity into something flawless and exciting. The paintings in my series Digital Identity are a combination of my favorite memories and moments, integrated with recognizable imagery from social media sites. The painting’s color schemes are purposely inverted, forcing the audience to rely on a device such as a Smartphone to view the piece in its entirety. Using AR goggles, the viewer now sees the abstracted forms within the paintings transform into an entirely new visual narrative.

The process that I want the viewer to engage with is two-fold. Upon first impression, the paintings themselves are constructed with dismal color-schemes or unrecognizable features. Once the audience interacts with the digital inversion, the paintings shift to a bright, cheerful and dynamic pallet. This is intended to be a metaphor for how social media has the tendency to make people’s worlds appear more desirable. The consequences of this consumer-driven reality are worth a deeper critique.

Artist
Sandra Hosking

Sandra Hosking is a professional editor, writer, playwright, and photographer based in Spokane, WA, USA. Publishing credits include The Spokesman-Review, Journal of Business, Glass International, Corrugated Today, 3 Elements Review, Cirque Literary Journal, Edify Fiction, and more. Her plays have been performed in New York City, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Canada, New Zealand, and elsewhere. Hosking holds an M.F.A. in theatre/playwriting from the University of Idaho and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Eastern Washington University.

Artist
Karen Vo

Karen Vo is a self-taught visual artist specializing in wildlife, with a particular affinity for birds. Born and raised in Washington state, Karen attributes her love of the natural world to her being spoiled by Washington scenery and wildlife throughout her childhood. Karen works primarily in gouache, watercolor, and graphite in an attempt to capture the beauty, fragility, and resilience of animals and plant life. Her goal as an artist is to bring more attention to the animals and plants we coexist with; highlighting their importance and how we have the power to protect them.

Karen completed her education in biochemistry and molecular biology in 2019 and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in pharmacy. While her career in science and medicine keeps her incredibly busy, she takes every opportunity to recreate the wildlife that surrounds us.

Artist
Bevie LaBrie

My life passions working as an art therapist, wilderness instructor and youth worker, and exploring the world through climbing rocks, travel and mountainous beauty fuel my art. I’m inspired by life and nature in all it’s forms—calm, chaotic, dry and abundant; thus the nature of my messy, layered and textured mixed media art process combining paint, collage, photography, pen and ink and water soluble pastel. Sometimes I keep it simple, and sometimes I use it all! Found natural objects or wood from construction sites often are my starting point. Adventure, natural beauty, human life experience, and my own internal landscape provide endless inspiration.