Larry McGee (left), the chairman of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team, helps Joan Hitchcock, vice president of ARTrails, to even a piece of hanging stained glass in the empty window front of the former Waldock's Ace Hardware building in downtown Chehalis last week.
Joan Hitchcock, vice president of ARTrails of Southwest Washington, hangs a stained glass piece created by Don Quackenbush in the empty window front of the former Waldock's Ace Hardware building in downtown Chehalis. The Chehalis Community Renaissance Team has partnered with ARTrails to fill empty area windows with art.
Stained glass artwork created by Don Quackenbush now hangs in the empty window front of the former Waldock's Ace Hardware building in downtown Chehalis.
Larry McGee (left), chairman of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team, and Jan Nontell, president of ARTrails, admire the store front they redecorated last week with stained glass art created by Don Quackenbush.
Larry McGee, chairman of the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team, attaches chain links to a stained glass piece created by Don Quackenbush before hanging it in the empty window front of the former Waldock's Ace Hardware building in downtown Chehalis.
Would you visit downtown Chehalis more often if empty storefronts were transformed into spaces where artists could work and display their creations?
ARTrails of Southwest Washington and the Chehalis Community Renaissance Team are hoping the public will answer a resounding yes to that question, as a new venture entitled the Storefront Art Project is going up in vacant spaces along Market Boulevard in the Mint City’s downtown core.
The project, brought about from people of both ARTrails and the Renaissance Team, is under way as volunteers spent time last week hanging a stained glass window created by Don Quackenbush of Toledo at the former Ace Hardware location at 439 Market Blvd. for the public to see.
It’s a small beginning, but ARTrails president Jan Nontell says it’s the start of a grand vision to merge downtown Chehalis with art and commerce.
“The city of Chehalis gave us their blessing, and a lot of the building owners said ‘Let’s go for it,’” Nontell said. “I mean imagine, instead of driving or walking through downtown and seeing empty storefronts, what if we had pop-up galleries there where we rotate artists and their work? I think it could be huge and bring a ton of people here.”
Nontell defined a pop-up gallery as being a temporary art gallery in an empty storefront that a group from two to 10 artists could use for a couple months at a time, before another one “pops up” and opens elsewhere. Theoretically, many could exist at the same time, Nontell said.
“It all depends on the degree of participation we’d get from the art community, and we’ve received quite a good few applications thus far,” Nontell said.
Showcasing local art is one aim of the Storefront Art Project, but another benefit the group hopes comes to pass is economic development. Larry McGee, president of theChehalis Community Renaissance Team, a group comprising local business owners and residents interested in restoring downtown Chehalis, hopes the pop-up galleries would lead to permanent tenants calling the storefronts home and contributing to the Twin Cities’ business community.
“We went at this with a pragmatic approach, and there are people who have gone on record and said showcasing a building like this helps rent or sell it more quickly,” McGee said. “It’s a two-fold benefit, because you have a temporary home for an artist who needs one, and it’s also helping a business owner showcase his building as well.”
Chehalis downtown business owners for the most part are on board with the idea — one being Mitch Moberg, owner of the Twin Cities Trading Post and president of the Chehalis Business Association. Moberg believes foot and vehicle traffic that comes from far and near to visit the downtown of the seat of Lewis County could very well increase simply because of the art attraction — a possibility that bodes well for businesses up and down Market Boulevard.
“Hopefully it gets the tour buses cooking on down here,” Moberg said. “There’s been a lot of work to beautify Chehalis and this is taking that and moving it forward. I think this benefits everyone in the entire downtown area and I’m excited to see it.”
•••
Christopher Brewer: (360) 807-8235
