By JENNEKE OOSTMAN
For the Review
For the first time on the island, the nonprofit Bainbridge Arts and Crafts is collaborating with another nonprofit, Bainbridge Island Land Trust, to coordinate this year’s exhibition of local art.
The exhibit, Art on the Trail, will occur from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday (or Sunday if it rains) at Blakely Harbor Park.
From carving to weaving, painting, photography, and print-making, a variety of techniques will be exhibited using nature as a center point.
The artists, David Franklin, Gregory Glynn, Diana Liljelund, Kathleen McKeehen, Elizabeth Moga, Sue Skelly, Kristin Tollefson, Kay Walsh, Melinda West and Ellen Wixted will create art based upon inspiration found within their natural surroundings. Weaving with branches and printmaking from leaves collected from the park’s ground are just two of the anticipated 10 exhibits.
Demonstrations, as well as lectures about specific techniques, will be given by the artists, who will further engage the public by allowing and encouraging them to participate in creating their own artwork.
The artists were chosen by the BAC via invitation. The organization, founded in 1948, is dedicated to exhibiting and selling the art of local artists and craftsmen. The artists were selected based on their talent, media, and ability to merge art with nature. All of the artists are residents of Kitsap County, with the majority living on Bainbridge Island or in Indianola or Poulsbo.
“The opportunity – the collaboration between the Bainbridge Island Land Trust and BAC – is absolutely wonderful,” said Bainbridge artist Diana Liljelund. “It’s a great way to get people outdoors, enjoying nature and the environment.”
Liljelund, who holds a degree in architecture from the University of Waterloo in Canada, will be using the wood from an old cherry tree to find inspiration for her artwork trilogy: “Passages.”
In exchange for their time, enthusiasm and completed artwork, the artists will each be given an honorarium of $1,250. Their art will be exhibited, and hopefully sold, in October at the BAC’s gallery. The proceeds will be donated to the Land Trust, which is dedicated to preserving the island’s natural environment.
The goal of the exhibit is to increase awareness of nature by showing its importance to humanity in terms of a form of art, according to Victoria Josslin, publicist and education director for BAC.
“My intention is to explore our relationship with nature,” Liljelund said. “My hope is that it [the artwork] will enable people to see something in nature that they haven’t seen before.”
“Nature is important to us in many different ways. Nature is a treasure,” Josslin said. The exhibit will allow the public to “spend time enjoying, thinking and experiencing nature.”
The event is free and open to all ages. Food will be provided by Real Foods.
