Co-Op Arts, a new artist cooperative and gallery in downtown Fairbanks, has just announced plans for their Grand Opening celebration to be held on Friday, September 3. The gallery opened on August 5 with support and encouragement from the Co-Op Plaza and the Fairbanks Art League ( a new organization under the Fairbanks Arts Association).
When Co-Op Plaza owner Dave Somers made the proposal to bring an art gallery to the plaza, he asked specifically that it be comprised of a group of artists, rather than an individual artist. Due to the current economic situation, a co-op of artists pooling together their resources made the most sense. We can keep operating costs low, while providing high quality artwork, with our group of ten artists working together. It was agreed in building our business plan that, due to limited gallery space, we would limit the group to ten so that each artist member would have a reasonable amount of display space for their work. At this time, we are not adding more artists. However, as we mature as a business and assess how the gallery functions, it is possible we may decide to add more artists in the future. Of course, should a member choose to leave the co-op, we will be looking for a replacement.
The Grand Opening Celebration will be held as the gallery’s First Friday Art Exhibition on Friday, September 3, from 5p.m. to 8p.m. in Suite 103 of the Co-Op Plaza, at 535 Second Avenue in downtown Fairbanks. Three hourly door prize giveaways and live entertainment from the Fairbanks Klezmerin Band are planned for the event. Band members include Dave Schlesinger on piano and Jeff Rothman on clarinet, and they will be playing Gypsie Dixieland music for the event from 5p.m. to 7p.m. in the common area of the Co-Op Plaza.
The ten co-operative artist members will be displaying a fresh sampling of their work at the Grand Opening. Artists include Jim Allan, Patricia Carlson, Philip Carrico, Margaret Donat, Susie Halfhill and Dubh of Hardluck Studios, Nikki Kinne, Ann Wood O’Brien, Shirley Odsather, Kate Wood, and Vladimir Zhikhartsev. Media include acrylics, baskets, jewelry, hand-dyed silk and velvet wear-ables, linoleum and wood-cut prints, photography, and watercolor. Plans for future First Friday events include an individual rotation of featured artwork from each of the ten cooperative artist members, with the exception of December’s First Friday, that will once again feature work from the entire group. The gallery also has plans to expand into the common area of the Co-Op Plaza for future First Friday Featured Artist events.
When:
First Firday, September 3rd, 2010- 5:00pm – 8:00pm
Where:
Co-Op Arts Gallery
535 2nd Ave, Suite 103
