The annual spring show of the Portland Art Museum Rental/Sales Gallery opens April 19, 5-8 p.m. The address is 1237 SW 10th Ave. at Jefferson.
As an artist who has been a part of this gallery since 1965, I have participated in and attended both the spring and fall shows for many years and am always excited by the new work of the 250 regional artists represented by the gallery.
HISTORY OF THE GALLERY
The gallery was launched in November of 1959 by the art museum to provide a sales and exhibition venue that would generate income for Oregon artists and the museum. Then and now the gallery is supported by a large number of volunteers who help the director with the tremendous amount of work involved. At any time, there are more than 600 art works in the gallery and over 2,000 in inventory. Jennifer Zika is the present director and is an enthusiastic supporter of all the artists, always looking for ways to give them more exposure.
HOW IT WORKS FOR CLIENTS
It is necessary to become a member of the art museum to rent from the gallery, but the advantages of being able to rent an art work and live with it several months before deciding to purchase are many. The rental price is a percentage of the selling price and varies from $40 to $400 for a three-month period. The client can renew for another 3 months, and if choosing to purchase, has 50% of the rental amount deducted from the purchase price.
The mediums of the art work are oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings; wood, metal and stone sculptures; collages, photography and framed prints. My own collections of paintings there are mostly acrylics, but the painting selected by the jury for the show is a watercolor – “Poppy Garden”.
