Page 16 - the NOISE June 2016

ROUTE 66 GAINS ARTISTIC FLAIR
WILLIAMS ART SCENE BLOSSOMS WITH GALLERIES AND LOCAL ART
FROM LEFT: Mimbres Canyon Katsina and Ravens Arriving are examples of the work of Sally Hall, featured at the Gallery in Williams this June.
STORY BY
NIKKI CHARNSTROM
From Route 66 memorabilia and neon lights to trinkets of the Wild West, Williams, Arizona Ms. Hall would describe her artistic style as realistic with a “twist of imagination.” Her life
has been a tourist destination for decades, but since 2011 the arts has become a staple of the town. Over the last five years, the historic city has gone from a single art gallery to now several co-existing on the same block; as well as the creation of the Williams Alliance for the Arts. What once started as an idea and a dream has evolved into a movement for the arts community of this railroad town.
Owner and founder of The Gallery in Williams, Kris Williams has been a driving force for the development of the arts. Five years ago, herself and her husband Tom Williams opened their gallery next door to the world famous Sultana Bar on Route 66. After about a year of occupying that location, a corner space opened up in the middle of town and Mr. and Mrs. Williams didn’t waste any time. As an artists’ corporative, the gallery has expanded from 12 artists to now 35 exhibiting in their space.
“We have an amazing mixture of different media, artists and styles,” Mrs. Williams says.
In order to be a co-op member of the gallery, the artists must be local and able to work shifts in the gallery twice a month. From there, they can bring in whichever work they wish to
showcase and sell.
“The comment we get from most tourists is they really appreciate seeing original handmade
items offered,” Mrs. Williams describes, “you can always find something new. I think one of the benefits of being a co-op and having many different artists is we inspire each other and challenge each other to always bring in new things.”
By giving artists the chance to showcase their work with freedom, the original and unique pieces are a representation of the local community and are specific to the quality of creativity the artists are exposed to here in the Southwest.
Throughout the summer months, The Gallery in Williams welcomes a “visiting artist” to feature their work for a month. The guest artists are not required to be a member of the co- op, but are asked to give the gallery a higher commission rate per sold item. Often times the visiting artist is referred by one of the member artists, sometimes resulting in the guest becoming an affiliate in the future. The featured visiting artists over the summer months are particularly booked two years in advance.
This month’s featured artist is painter Sally Hall. Her appreciation for nature, the canyon country, and the native cultures of the Four Corners region was nurtured in the many years she spent camping with her family as a child.
When it came time for Ms. Hall to leave home to pursue her education, she found herself in California, Utah and Washington; until she earned her MFA from Washington State University. Following her graduation she moved to New york City, followed by Washington DC, Chicago, and settled in Boston to raise her family. Throughout her years in New york, she worked in the Education Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was here Ms. Hall’s paintings of skies, landscapes, and images of the canyon culture began to emerge. In a hope to heighten her interest for Mimbres Pottery, she became a research associate at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum. This enabled her access into the collections to photograph the various pieces, eventually using the images as inspiration.
After living 14 years just outside of Boston, Ms. Hall moved to Sedona and practiced a similar research technique at the Museum of Northern Arizona. She currently resides in the state of Colorado.
“The uplifting strength of the Grand Canyon and, in particular, the Native cultures that have evolved and endured in relationship to this powerful region are the lenses I continue to see my world through,” Ms. Hall expresses, “The immense, dramatic skies, the seemingly solid rock that can still crumble, and the strength of the people who survive in this environment combine to create a striking image of life in one of its extremes.”
The work she plans to showcase throughout the month is a combination of paintings and prints based on the collection of kachinas at the Museum of Northern Arizona and the pottery designs found within the Peabody Musuem. Star constellations can be found in most of the work in her latest series.
as a painter and artist can be summed up with the words; exciting, lonely, spiritual, hectic, exhilarating, and connected.
“My art is how I define, explore and share who I am. It is how I speak,” Ms. Hall confesses.
Since Mr. & Mrs. Williams opened the only gallery in town at the time, they have seen an increase in the arts and a growing enthusiasm the tourists, locals and artists express. Continuing this newfound energy is the recently developed Williams Alliance for the Arts. This organization actively promotes and recruits support for the Williams Center for the Arts and other events and community activities in the area. They aim to enhance music and art for the children of Williams by offering workshops for both the kids and the adults of the neighborhood.
As of late, gallery owner Joseph Robertson recently opened his own gallery space on Route 66 just a ways down from The Gallery in Williams. Once a member in the town’s co-op, he found he “outgrew his space” there and longed to have a place to call his own. After traveling on the road with art shows for over 20 years, he was searching for a reason to settle down. When the space next to Shane Knight Gallery became available in Fall 2015, Mr. Robertson knew this was his reason.
With the help of the connections he has formed over the years, he currently has 20 different artists displaying their work upon his walls, most of them hailing from the Southwest and the Four Corners region, except for the Mexico based potter, Mata Ortiz. “This gallery is geared toward the local as well as the tourist who is looking for something in an Arizona collectable fine art piece to take home,” Mr. Robertson explains.
Tourists can expect signature yet original works that depict images and themes of the Southwest when they walk into Joseph Robertson Gallery. It’s these handmade pieces from artists all over the area that Mr. Robertson takes delight in.
“My focus is as people walk in the door, I pick up something and I say, ‘Let me tell you about this, this is cool. Let me tell you why it’s cool and let me tell you who this person is,’” Mr. Robertson describes, “After 20 years of being in the art business, I’ve decided that is what I want to be able to do with my life.”
One thing this gallery owner hears quite often from the tourists is, “I had no idea Williams was this cool of a town.” According to Mrs. Williams, about one to two million visitors come to Williams each year, giving these galleries most of their business by foot traffic alone.
“We would love to see more galleries open and higher quality art offered, both stand alone galleries and co-ops. I think there is room for more arts related businesses in Williams and we encourage that,” Mrs. Williams explains, “We would love to see Williams become a destination for the arts.”
In agreement with her, Mr. Robertson feels the future is bright for the Route 66-esque town. With the seeds the Williams Alliance for the Arts has planted, he says its now up to the community to nurture the growth and development of the arts.
Throughout the summer months of May to October, Williams holds its Second Saturday ArtWalk. This event provides visitors and locals the chance to stroll the evening on the neon-lit, live music filled Route 66. Twelve locations, mixed art, and the chance to interact with some of the local artists is an event Williams prides itself with.
Visit The Gallery in Williams located at 145 West Route 66 for complimentary wine, food and a great time to socialize. Also, stop by Joseph Robertson Gallery at 238 West Route 66 for light h’ordeuvres and to get a taste for the art of the Southwest.
The Williams ArtWalk takes place every second Saturday through the summer until the month of October from 6-9PM. For more information, visit theGalleryInWilliams.com .
| Nikki Charnstrom has had a few neon encounters, to say the least.
nikki@thenoise.us
16 • JUNE 2016 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us