Art on the town

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Some people look at an old, rusted out wheelbarrow and think “trash.” Others look at it and think “treasure.”

Members of the latter camp fit right in with the theme of the quarterly Bainbridge Island Arts Walk, “Recycle, Reuse, Repeat.”

More than 20 artists have taken up the challenge to create art from found and previously used materials. Their works will be on display from noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 5 at businesses and galleries throughout downtown Winslow.

Nancy Canyon has created shadowboxes that group collections of found materials, such as items collected on local beaches and ceramic chips from Italy. Her work can be seen at The Traveler, 287 Winslow Way E.

Darcy Thompson will show her handcrafted mosaic garden art, from bird baths to tables, made primarily from recycled small pieces of glass, at Dana’s Showhouse, 278 Winslow Way E.

Prudential Northwest Real Estate, 400 Winslow Way E, hosts sculptors Gregg Onewein and William Wentworth.

Onewein creates whimsically decorated wooden sculptures made from yard prunings, while Wentworth makes stainless steel and bronze sculptures and fountains.

The Bainbridge Island Arts Walk is sponsored by the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council.

For a complete list of artists and venues, visit www.artshum.org.

Friday night, Feb. 3 is First Friday, with Bainbridge Island galleries opening exhibits and hosting receptions for the artists from 6-8 p.m. The galleries will also be open during the Arts Walk, noon to 5 p.m. Feb. 5.

Gallery Fraga, 166 Winslow Way E, opens a tribute to the start of the Chinese Year of the Dog, with canine-inspired art by three Northwest artists.

“Year of the Dog (and Cat)” features linocuts and sculptures from Portland artist Thomas Rude, oils by Seattle artist Debbie Tomasi and acrylics by Port Townsend artist and children’s book illustrator Richard Jesse Watson.

During the Arts Walk on Sunday, Bainbridge Island photographer Karyn Carpenter will be at the gallery from 1-3 p.m. to photograph dogs, with or without their owners (although they must be in attendance). There will be a nominal fee for the fido photos.

Roby King Galleries, 176 Winslow Way E, features exhibits by Northwest painter Diane Ainsworth in the main gallery, and “View Point,” with photographs by Harry Longstreet, in Gallery II.

There will be a reception for both artists during First Friday, 6-8 p.m., and the gallery will be open during the Arts Walk.

If all the artists in the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts show attend the opening Friday, it will be a full house.

The gallery, at 151 Winslow Way E, opens “Mixed Nuts,” featuring the work of 40 young artists in grades 1-12.

The special exhibit is a learning exercise for the artists, with all of them signing contracts, writing artist statements and framing their works, all in the hopes that they will sell. And, like professional artists, they will pay the gallery a commission if their work sells.

While the students won’t directly see that commission money, they may benefit from it. All of it will be donated to Bainbridge Island schools as part of the cooperative galleries ongoing annual grants to school art departments. wu