Housed on a quiet street at 4131 Woodland Park Ave. N., Windows Art Gallery recently reopened in January 2005.
The building - part house, office and retail space - has trees shading the white exterior, with large windows covering the façade, and could easily be mistaken for any other home lining the street.
Owner Ron Paul Baum has owned Windows Art Gallery for 12 years. He provides a unique opportunity to serious artists by focusing on mainly one-person shows and occasionally showcasing two artists as well. Each month, a new artist is featured, and the opening coincides with the Fremont Art Walk, the first Friday of every month.
Visitors to the gallery will find artwork in numerous mediums, such as photographs, installations, mixed-media paintings, sketches and even performance art.
For the month of May, Marcia Huber, an abstract artist from Bow, Wash., will have about 25 of her paintings and sketches displayed in the gallery.
A previous opening included a scrim installation and drawings entitled "Insideout," by local artist Weldon Butler. Bellevue artist Daniel Colvin recently showcased original paintings, photography and digital alchemy (a combination of both photography and painting).
How it all began
Working as an architectural design illustrator, Baum discovered the building just a block from his own home. A residential house, it was also licensed for an office and retail space. Baum needed a space to work on his illustrations and had other plans for the retail area, he explained: "I was always interested in art, so the obvious choice was a gallery."
In the beginning, Baum used the studio to work on his own illustrations and displayed other people's art on the surrounding walls for people to view.
In 1998, Baum moved to Woodinville, and while he still owned the gallery, he put operations on hold, until last January.
Baum's son Forest still lives in the neighborhood, and together, they operate the gallery. Forest answers the business line and will take appointments for people to stop by.
Baum says the hours the gallery is open vary. " People can call to find out what the current hours are, or they can make an appointment," he said. "If one of us is here, we are open. We are generally open during hours that other places are not, like Saturday or Sunday afternoons, or in the evenings."
Gaining momentum
While the gallery has just recently reopened, recruiting artists has been relatively painless. "I have 10 shows ready for this year. I started in January, and I haven't actually had to contact too many people - a lot of them just show up," Baum said.
When Baum first opened the gallery, he recruited a lot of local Seattle artists. Today, many of the artists he brings to the gallery are from the Eastside, or other areas outside of Seattle, like Huber, whom he met when she lived in Woodinville.
It's not surprising that Baum has such an extensive lineup, as Huber stated, "It's really hard to have a one-man show because of the competition. I mean, who wouldn't want to be an artist? I think the competition is really strong."
Baum would like to eventually open the gallery up to artists who would like to use the space for a month to work in, as well as display their work on the walls, as he once did.
Baum plans to do more advertising to increase awareness of the gal-lery. For now, he generates business through a mailing list, sending out occasional notices to newspapers and curious neighbors.
He also relies on the individual artists "because these are one-person shows," he said. "The artist themselves bring in a lot of people. It's so difficult to get a one-person show, that when an artist does have one, they will get a lot of people to come."
Baum's son also will have activities of his own at the gallery. He associates with a lot of the young artists in the community and draws in business that way as well. Activities range from performance art to music, to even a couple of flame-throwers out in the street.
As for Huber, her first opening in Baum's gallery went well, and she believes more people will quickly become aware of the small, but notable gallery.
"Ron is just starting up again, but I think the area is a great walk-around community, and the more people become aware that it is there, even more business will come in," she said.
Abby Lund writes about places that are Off the Beaten Path for the Herald-Outlook. To contact her, e-mail needitor@nwlink.com.
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