Story Photos
 LCC student Emily Bate sets up the student art show in the new gallery. Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
|
LCC's Rose Center Art Gallery opens with student exhibit
Thursday, May 22, 2008 12:01 PM PDT
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleAs with any move, bunches of boxes and swaths of undecorated wall space were much in evidence earlier this week at the new Lower Columbia College Art Gallery.
By 4 p.m. Thursday, however, more than 300 works of art should be hung in time for the opening reception of the college’s annual student art show.
The event will be much more than a time for student artists to mingle and admire each other’s paintings, photos and sculptures. It’s the first time the public will be allowed in the college’s new $24.6 million Rose Center.
Only the Art Gallery will open Thursday. A grand opening for the entire building, which includes two theaters, is scheduled for June 28.
The new gallery is front and center at the Rose Center. Entering the lobby, it’s hard to miss “Where Water Comes Together with Other Water,” the 10-by-40 foot mural by renowned Portland artist Lucinda Parker.
The gallery has a main floor with walls that are 25 feet tall on two sides, and an L-shaped mezzanine that wraps around the other two sides. “The upstairs doubles the space” compared to the college’s old, one-story gallery in Main, the building next door, said Diane Bartlett, the gallery’s director.
The old gallery space will be converted into LCC faculty offices.
The new gallery has about 200 running feet of wall space where art can be displayed. Hollow wooden pedestals can be moved around the terrazzo tile floor to create more hanging space.
Another improvement is more flexible lighting fixtures. Gallery workers can re-aim them and adjust the brightness, though it will take a motorized lift to reach the ceiling.
A rectangular skylight allows natural light to flow into the gallery — or not. With the push of a button, Bartlett activated a sliding cover. “We can add the light — or take it away if it gets too hot,” she said.
Though most of the walls are white, one is a pale green that’s repeated elsewhere in the building. “We have this interesting green wall,” Bartlett said. “It may not stay that color.”
Eventually, the mezzanine will house permanent displays; the college has some in storage and may ask for donations.
Rotating exhibits go on the main floor. Bartlett has put out a call for proposals. “I’ve had responses from all over the country and outside the country,” she said.
After the student show, the next scheduled exhibit will be the Connecting Waters 2008 Invitational, with a variety of styles and media. Unlike in past years, the gallery will stay open through summer, with hours 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. The first fall show will be works by local artist Leon Lowman, but fall gallery hours haven’t been determined.
Although Bartlett took over management of the gallery in December, she’s not new to the campus. She previously spent 21 years at Worksource, most recently out of an office at LCC. A Longview native, Bartlett majored in art in college and taught art in Quincy, Wash.
Bartlett and Robert Cochran, the building’s new technical director, said one of the most spectacular displays comes after dark.
Even when the Rose Center is closed at night, the Parker mural’s bold colors stay lighted.
“At night, it looks great,” Bartlett said.
“It’s really gorgeous,” Cochran said.
If you go
• The opening reception for Lower Columbia College’s annual Student Art Exhibit will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today. The exhibit will continue Friday through June 5.
• The Spring Student Pottery Sale begins at 4 p.m. Thursday and runs through Friday.
• Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays (except for Memorial Day), Tuesdays and Fridays, and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays.
• Admission is free.
• Grand opening events at the Rose Center, with performances and art gallery talks, are scheduled for 1-5 p.m. June 28. Events will include a performance by the LCC Symphonic Band and short choral, dance and drama programs on the new stages.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story listed the incorrect dates for the Spring Student Pottery Sale. The correct dates are listed above.
unnown01 wrote on May 22, 2008 10:03 PM:
taintersniff wrote on May 22, 2008 11:47 PM:
Past Month's Most Commented Stories