The
INSIDE Energy Matters
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Elephant Revival
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Children Center Auction
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Islands’ eekly W
VOLUME 35, NUMBER 32 • August 7, 2012
Chimera – weaving art, business and community By Iris Graville
Special to the Islands’ Weekly
No one disputes the intrepidness of the handful of Lopez Island artists who opened Chimera Gallery in 1987. “We all wanted to make art, not run a business,” says Pamela Maresten, one of the co-op’s founders.
‘Progressive Folk’ Wednesday Aug. 15th 7:30 PM • Lopez Island Woodmen Hall - $15 Kids 12 & under Free 12-16 - $8 More info: 468-2753 or www.homeonthegrange.com
Chimera’s business model – a worker-owned cooperative – eased their leap from art studios to ledger sheets. “Putting your work in a regular gallery cuts into your earnings horrendously,” Maresten explains. “We preferred to trade our time to get a little more for our art. This was a way to make it go.” The 25 candles on the anniversary cake at the Chimera Artists’ Cooperative annual meeting this year were proof that the approach has succeeded. For potter Nancy Bingham, selling her art was a necessity back in 1987. “I was trying to make a living through art and needed a place to show my work,” she says. “We were looking for venues and it seemed we
Lopez Artist Guild Art Show Featuring Members:
TJ Anderson, Lane Langford, Ginny Neece and Ron Norman
had enough good art and good artists to put together a gallery.” Although no longer active in Chimera, Bingham devoted herself to its first 10 years of operation. “I liked the grass roots way we started things,” she says. “We made all those decisions about how to run it, the hours and what to call it.” Bingham remembers much debate over “what to call it,” and the list of potential names that included Art Throbs Cooperative and Main Artery – A Cooperative. “Nobody could pronounce Chimera,” Bingham says; Maresten, who’s credited with the moniker, recalls it barely got majority approval. Patrons still stumble over
the word, even with the pronunciation guide on the cooperative’s business card (ki-meer-a) and definition (a thing of mixed character). But, it fit. “This is exactly how it started,” Bingham says. “All these different people who had different ideas and different ways of doing things.” Diana Bower, creator of the gallery’s logo, was among the founders and remains active today. Her linoleum block print – a fanciful griffin with the head of a lion, body of a goat, and long, curving tail – symbolizes the diversity of artists and personalities from the cooperative’s beginning through the present. Maresten and Bingham recall that in those early
Lopez Center An evening of music from Zimbabwe Saturday August 18th, 7:30pm
nd an a a ba mb am at ta am ma Ma za a od dz go hing Ch ek kiwa C us se Mu
Friday, August 10th from 5:00 – 7:00pm
Lopez Center for Community & the Arts Everyone Welcome
Tickets available at: Paper Scissors on the rock, Lopez Book Shop, Blossom Organic Grocery, lopezcenter.org
Lopez Center
Make a positive impact on a child’s life and assure all kids start the school year confidently by donating to the Lopez Island Family Resource Center’s Back to School Drive! $50 lets us buy a new backpack, fill it with school supplies and give a gift card to purchase new clothes. Bring gift cards and school supplies to the LIFRC office or mail donations to: LIFRC Back to School Drive, PO Box 732, Lopez, WA 98261. Your support is appreciated! Call 468-4117 or visit our website at www.lifrc.org for more info.
2nd Concert in Steinway Piano Series
Saturday August 11th, 7pm
Michael Golden—Pianist World Famous Performer Playing jazz standards, classical, popular, folk tunes and free improvisation by donation • www.lopezcenter.org
Contributed photo / Jeffrey Hanks
An inside look at Chimera Gallery. days, gallery operations were, well, “of mixed character.” Members met often, and whoever showed up set the agenda and figured out who would facilitate and who would take minutes. There was no board of directors, and policies and procedures were fluid. Any artist who was willing to staff the gallery could join. Now an elected group of five oversees day-to-day operations and juries in new work, and a written contract delineates membership responsibilities and benefits.
Since the beginning, members have jotted notes in a journal during their shifts staffing the gallery, an 800-square-foot storefront just two doors from Holly B’s Bakery in Lopez Village. A leaf through the pages reveals this appraisal: “Soooo many people are here now, browse, browse, browse. If only we could live on compliments. It would be hard to make change though. Imagine trying to cash a standing ovation.” See chimera, page 6
COME - CELEBRATE OUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY! CATHERINE WASHBURN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION 1972-2012
HEALTH & SAFETY FAIR SATURDAY AUGUST 25, 1 PM - 5 PM LOPEZ COMMUNITY CENTER Screenings! Demonstrations! Door Prizes! Fun Activities!
Blood-pressure checks - Eye exams - Women's health - Ultrasound demonstrations - Physical therapy presentations - Lopez Fire Department and EMTs will demonstrate CPR, car & bike safety, fire-truck & ambulance tours Others include Island Hospital, Lopez Pharmacy, Lopez Senior Services, Lopez Hospice and Home Support, Hamlet House, SHIBA Medicare advice, San Juan County Health Department
DOOR PRIZES - BIRTHDAY CAKE - SPARKLING CIDER 4 PM The Catherine Washburn Medical Association (CWMA) owns the building, land, and equipment of Lopez Island Medical Clinic (LIMC). CWMA is our communityfunded foundation that supports LIMC. Please join!
Pick-Your-Own! Tristars are in!
Tues. & Fri. 9–3 • For info, call 4748
C rowfoot farm