Gallery Alley brings art to the streets of Bellingham
Gallery Alley is an outdoor art exhibition in the alley between Wild Buffalo and what was Mindport Exhibits, now the future home of the Children of the Setting Sun Productions, on West Holly Street in Bellingham.
It is organized by the Downtown Bellingham Partnership in collaboration with the RE Store, which aims to use reclaimed doors as canvases.
During the summer, eight artists are selected every two months to paint one of the reclaimed doors. Once finished, they are hung in the alley and turned into a public art gallery for the community to enjoy. The doors will be installed by Friday, June 6.
Placemaking is one of the core principles of the DBP. This means turning public spaces into moments of celebration, art and culture, said Jenny Hagemann, the DBP’s development and communications director.
“It's important for people to be able to discover free ways to experience art. I think it's also an important way that we're able to allow artists to express themselves and provide a surprise and delightful experience,” Hagemann said. “Our executive director is very keen on one of the elements of our work being that people should be occasionally delighted by something they didn't know was there, and Gallery Alley serves that purpose all summer long.”
The application to paint a door is currently closed. Artists will be selected by April 30. The first round of artists' doors will hang in the alley from June to July. The second round of artists will be chosen by the end of May, and their doors will hang in the alley from August to September.
The Gallery Alley has showcased many different types of artists. They've had mixed media artists, traditional oil canvas painters, sculptural renditions, and artists incorporating photography on the doors.
“We really just look forward to receiving the applications from such a wide variety of artistic perspectives,” Hagemann said. “So to us, one of the joys is just being able to showcase everything you can do with something as seemingly simple as a reclaimed door.”
Jillian Cooper, an artist based in Bellingham, participated in the Gallery Alley in the summers of 2023 and 2024.
“I hadn't done any markets or anything yet, and I was like, ‘This is gonna be a great opportunity for me to start getting my name out there and figuring out the logistics of getting a piece like that into the world,’” Cooper said.
Only one in five artists will have the opportunity to exhibit their work in their lifetime, according to Contemporary Art Issues.
“Exhibits are a way of sharing information,” said Julia Sapin, a professor of art history at Western Washington University. “They're a way of sharing ideas about individuals, about communities, a way of provoking discussion and creating a sense of community.”
The artists paint both sides of the door so it can be flipped halfway through, and a different piece can be displayed each month.
In her years participating so far, Cooper's designs have featured nature scenes featuring local flora and fauna. You can find her work on her website, Frolicking Fawn Studio.
“Overall, the program and the project was a really cool experience being able to see myself create work that I had never done before,” Cooper said. “It opened up this new door for me into a different sort of painting medium that I hadn't really worked with before, and it opened up a lot of opportunities.”
The doors will be put up for an online silent auction open for bid on June 6. The proceeds support the DBP.
“I grew up in Bellingham. As a kid, I used to go around town a lot and just walk around. And I feel like I don't see younger kids doing that on their own as much anymore,” Cooper said. “So it's been cool to see just different people trying to create a comfortable space again. And Bellingham has been doing a really good job with that.”
The Bank of America, located at 112 E. Holly St., has partnered with the DBP to display in their windows any remaining doors from previous years that were never sold and that artists want to keep on display.
Most people, particularly those of younger generations, spend a lot of time on their phones, watching or listening to short clips, only getting quick glimpses of content. In contrast, a visual exhibition allows people the opportunity to closely examine art, exchange ideas and have conversations with the artist, Sapin said.
“These visual exhibitions enrich our lives,” she said. “It's another way in which a community can come together and learn something about fellow community members, or alternatively, all other cultures.”