Yakima Artists’ Studio Tour

The Artist's Tour poster for this year

 

Next month is the second annual Labor Day Weekend Artist's Studio Tour in Yakima. The event features 7 studios and over 30 artists at those studios. The Tour is only $10 per person and that one ticket gets you into all 7 studios anytime during the three day weekend. At the studios you can talk to artists, see their workspacee, see their work, and buy art. Some artists may even be demonstrating during the tour.

work on display in my studio for last year's tour

This is not the Tour of Arists Homes and Studios that Larson Gallery used to run in Spring. This event features working artists and their studios only (no art collections or whole homes) and also features lots of artwork you can buy and take home for your own collection. This show is sponsored by Pamela Searcy's Artebella Gallery and Pamela has done a great job of taking care of all the advertising (I was happy not to have to think much about that this year).

postcard for this year's tour

My studio was in the tour last year and I enjoyed having people visit the studio. For me, it's a nice way to show off my studio (newly remodeled in Winter 2020) and talk to art lovers about art. I enjoy doing shows, but I don't enjoy standing in the sun or transporting my work to a different location. With this tour, I can stay inside (or in the shade in my lawn) and people come to me.

works in progress for this year's tour

The past year since last year's tour has been a bit of a rollercoater (she says, downplaying the drama). I found a lump in late September, was diagnosed with agressive breast cancer in November, and have finished 20 weeks of chemo and several surgeries, plus ongoing occupational and physical therapy to prevent lymphedema and bring back full-range of motion after the surgery. By Labor Day weekend, I will have finished 32 of my 33 radiation treatments.

A piece I finished earlier this year (and showed at Larson Gallery for the student show)

Despite all that, I have spent some time in the studio. I've built quite a bit of new work that integrates port-a-caths into the design and I've even got some thrown work in progress (bowls, plates, and cancer-y mugs) from earlier in the year. I've probably only finished one sculpture since the last tour, but I have work in the kiln today and I'm hoping that my energy holds out (through at least another week or two of radiation) so that I can finish the rest before the tour.

port-a-cath bulb in progress earlier this year

Last year it was just me and my daughter (and her friends) at my house for the Tour. This year I've asked my friends Monika Lemmon and Chris Otten to also show at my house. 

Lithosphere by Monika Lemmon (you can't have this one because I own it), see more at her website

Monika is a painter and also works in painting and sculpture. She from Yakima, though she spent some time teaching out of state, and you may have seen her work at Larson Gallery, Boxx Gallery, Yakima Maker's Space/Collab Coffee or The Seasons. She has work in the Larson Gallery collection at Yakima Valley College. I used to eat lunch in a room with one of her paintings at YVC and now some of it is found in Chris Otten's office and in the new Larson Gallery.

Photograph by Chris Otten, from his Endless Horizons series, see more at his website

Chris Otten is a photographer and photography instructor at Yakima Valley College. Chris taught photography in Florida and Colorado before moving to Yakima. At YVC he teaches digital photography, digital design, and photography history classes for YVC, and this past year he was the only full-time art faculty still working after the rest of us full-timers left the state or went on medical leave. Around here, you may have seen his work at Larson Gallery, Sarah Spurgeon Gallery, or Terrain Gallery in Spokane.

Alison and her friends at last year's tour, find their work on Instagram at Dezignosaur 

Last year my daughter and her friends sold their handmade polymer clay, felted, and beaded jewelry during the tour. The plan is for them to do so again this year, though they are much busier with school stuff this year than they were in the lead-up to the 2021 show.

heart-a-cath mugs waiting for glaze

I will be right at the end of my radiation treatment when this tour takes place, so I've already let Chris and Monika know that they may have to take on the hard jobs. I've been told that I might be fatigued and I might be hurting like I hae a really bad sunburn. As of my checkup today (2 weeks in), I have some fatigue but my skin is holding up fairly well so far), but it sounds like these things are cumulative. I figure that if I'm too tired or sore, I can rest and give over more of my studio space to Monika and Chris.

postcard back, this year's tour

I'm still hoping that I'll be feeling good (or reasonably good) throughout the month and these treatments. I've got a kiln ready to unload today and I'm hoping I can get two batches of work fired before the tour. I've got sculptures in progress and some functional work that I'd like to fire to a higher temperature.

port-a-cath sculpture in progress

Besides my unknowns this year, I think this year's tour should be a strong one. We've got more artists exhibiting at various studios and hopefully folks enjoyed their experience last year and are inviting more folks to come see the studios this year. The goal is to make this an annual show and I know that I'm looking forward to doing it again next year when I'm hopefully feeling 100% in the lead up to the tour.

trifold ad for this year's tour

If you wish to buy tickets, you can buy them ahead of time from me, Chris, or Monika, or other artists. You can also simply show up at the studio that weekend and buy your ticket then. For folks who are thinking about coming on the tour, we have trifolds and postcards that I can get you. Once you buy your ticket(s), you get a nice booklet featuring artists statements and bios, photos, artist listings, and a map of participating studios. 

new abstract bulb in progress

 

I hope to see you on Labor Day weekend at my studio. Let me know if you'd like to buy tickets ahead of time, put up a poster, or if you have questions about the tour.