Artistic genres unite at the new downtown gallery on the corner of Second and Pemberton Avenue.
Portico Gallery is the reincarnation of the recently closed Up Stares Gallery, and co-owner Linda Bachman feels the new location and venue will draw many more artists and visitors.
"This is the continuation of the need for a full-time gallery in Squamish," she said. "Our main purpose is to build awareness of the gallery in the community and draw interest from elsewhere as a tourism destination."
An artist herself, Bachman paints "acrylic realism with an edge."
She said her paintings often depict scenes or images one would discover in and around Squamish.
Paintings aren't the only art forms that adorn the gallery's walls and display cases. Pottery, jewelry and puppets add diversity and appeal to the venue. The large front windows make the artwork visible from the road, particularly on a sunny day, and Bachman hopes this will help draw more foot traffic in.
There are currently 20 artists' works on display and Bachman said she and co-owner Susan Remnant, who creates most of the jewelry on display, invite artists to bring in their work.
"Artists are invited to bring in samples and together Susan and myself decide whether we want to jury it in," she said. "It's anything goes - we're looking for something with a bit of a contemporary edge to it, something out of the norm and something that is not offered in the rest of the shops or in the market."
At the moment 80 per cent of the artists with work on display at Portico are from the Sea to Sky Corridor while the rest are from Hornby Island, North Vancouver, Whistler and Coquitlam.
Bachman and Remnant want to make Portico more than a gallery.
"We want to be recognized as a place to buy unique items," said Bachman.
"But we also like to excel in offering programs and workshops because of our thirst for educating and being creative and building up new artists in the community."
Zoe Evamy, who offered a number of workshops and classes in watercolour painting at the Up Stares Gallery, is keen to rekindle the interest those workshops sparked.
"For the past two years I've been offering workshops which were kind of building in popularity," Evamy said. "I had a small following and the advantage here at the Portico is we have quite a large space now to do studio work."
She said she would also consider teaching some workshops outside.
"It would be great to go out and paint on location because we have so many incredible places to go and paint," she said.
Both Evamy and Bachman said the opening celebration on Sunday (May 15) was a huge success, with a larger turnout than expected.
"We actually had artists from North Van, West Vancouver and Whistler who had heard about the gallery and were very interested," Evamy said. "Already we had quite a broad grouping in the gallery and it was fantastic to have so many people here."
Bachman said everyone is invited to meander in and take a look, particularly when friends and family come to visit.
"In other words, we just want to be an artsy fartsy group in everybody's face to show that we have a lot to offer here," she said. "We have the best of the best of the local artists."
Squamish Arts Council (SAC) chair Krisztina Egyed said she is thrilled to have Portico Gallery join the up-and-coming arts and culture scene in downtown Squamish.
"We're very pleased that Portico Galleryhas openedin the downtown," she said."It will jointhe House of RTS on Cleveland,and along with five DOS (District of Squamish) supported arts and culture venues including the Squamish Arts Council Buildingin the park, which will be open Saturdays with art exhibits and activities, the beautiful new O'Siem Pavilion, the SAC Artisan Gallery next the library, as well as the Foyer Gallery inside the library, and of course the upcoming Blue Barn.
"Squamish is on the right track in terms of developingour critical arts and cultureinfrastructure and thevisibility of arts and cultural activity and quality venues contributes to the beauty and liveability of our community."
The Portico gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
