Art on the town

Our mission is to bring an ongoing and ever-changing art exhibit to Downtown Port Angeles. ART on the town, now in its eighth season, is a year-long outdoor art gallery showing in the heart of Downtown Port Angeles. Since inception, 39 artworks valued in excess of $325,000 have been purchased or commissioned through the exposure provided by ART on the town.
The outdoor venue showcases the artists’ work in an inviting, family-oriented, pedestrian-friendly environment. Display sites include the waterfront, Downtown sidewalks, and pocket park areas. ART on the town promotes the multi-faceted artworks with regularly scheduled guided tours and other events. Self-guided walking tours are also promoted with easy-to-use sculpture tour guides and maps.
The diversity of the public viewing the works annually, creates a valuable market for the promotion and sale of the featured artwork. With the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., we anticipate a substantial increase in tourism on the Olympic Peninsula for the next 3-5 years. The majority of those travelers will be traveling through Port Angeles at some point during their visit.
Charles Smith, Chair
Lindberg & Smith Architects
452-6116
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Subject: Art on the Town
My name is Dan Klennert, I am the artist who created the "Seahorse" that is in the Art On The Town permanent collection. I have a sculpture park up here just before the west entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. I get thousands of visitors throughout the summer and every summer I have visitors who mention that they enjoyed my seahorse and Art on the Town of Port Angeles.
Dan Klennert
Recycled Spirits of Iron
www.danielklennert.com
youtube video, Recycled Spirits of Iron
As a subcommittee of Design, the 2012 Art on the Town Work Plan is incorporated into the Design plan.
OTHER TESTIMONIALS ABOUT OUR PROGRAM
May, 2011
I believe an outdoor art gallery, be it statues on streets or murals on building walls, it provides an ambience and insight of the community and dispels any notion that PA is just another hayseed town at the end of an abandoned rail route. In my opinion Port Angeles is reinventing itself as the once abundant resources dwindle and what a way to do it! The sense of community involvement is very strong as Richard's "colour commentary" amply displays.
The Art Tour is far more than an art tour. It is also steeped in the history of the City and I came to see more than "what was but what is." The murals transport the observer from the past to the present and perhaps, too, a glimpse of the what may be. We were brought into shops where we saw the beautiful creations that "locals" are doing. We saw the end results of craftspeople creating intricate things. It is refreshing to buy something not stamped "made in China." We left with the fact that the city is well represented with creative people whose craft is often "cutting edge."
We also went into shops where we were welcomed and given a sense of the warmth of the people of Port Angeles.
So the Art Tour gave us a snapshot of the drive, durability and devotion of the people to the town in which they live and love. It was a snippet of a love story that warmed my heart.
I have done the tour several times and I often retrace part of the tour on my own and go back to view some of the work again. {My favourite was the "Gandy Dancer.") Every time I do the tour I come away with a greater knowledge of the community as well as a greater sense of the character of the area.
It's a wonderful accomplishment.
Carma
_________________________________________
September, 2009
Recent articles about the gallery have appeared in Port Angeles Main Street™, Northwest Travel and AAA regional travel magazines. Port Angeles, Washington, is on a Scenic Coastal Byway that is the gateway to both Olympic National Park and Victoria, British Columbia. The Olympic Peninsula receives over 4.5 million visitors annually. Downtown Port Angeles is in the center of that activity as a retail center on the Peninsula as well as home to two international ferry terminals to Canada.
This outdoor gallery setting provides the perfect venue for cultural enrichment and arts education for residents of Port Angeles and its visitors. The show provides an opportunity to showcase both local and regional artists with international exposure and recognition, as well as promoting economic development through tourism. The inclusion of Avenue of the People in 2008 has created national media attention for Port Angeles and the program. We anticipate an expansion of this media coverage in 2009 as the tourist season approaches producing a heightened awareness and interest in this gallery.
For artists interested in participating in our ART on the town project, please contact us at director@portangelesdowntown.com. We will be delighted to provide you with the necessary information for your consideration.
Printable Artwork Entry Form for 2010-11 Gallery
Brochures for a self-guided walking tour are available at the Port Angeles Downtown Association office at 208 No. Laurel and at downtown merchants. ART on the town is sponsored by the Port Angeles Downtown Association and the City of Port Angeles with the cooperation and the support of the community, local galleries and contributing artists. Charles Smith, Lindberg & Smith Architects, (360)452-6116.
SECOND WEEKEND--begins on the second Friday evening of the month with gallery openings and shows. The participating galleries and artists are listed on the Home Page of this website the week before the event.
WE APPRECIATE YOUR SUPPORT OF ART ON THE TOWN
When making a donation please make checks payable to PORT ANGELES DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION and indicate that it is for ART ON THE TOWN mail to:
Port Angeles Downtown Association
P.O. Box 582
Port Angeles, WA 98362
PLEASE BE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME, ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBER AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF THIS PROGRAM.
Congratulations to Us!
This excerpt appears in the August, 2006, issue of Sea magazine. It tells us that our hard work is paying off!
“Downtown Port Angeles is within walking distance from either marina…. In town, you’ll find interesting clothing, outdoors and sporting goods shops, bookstores, boutiques and art galleries. We enjoy exploring “PA’s” downtown streets, with their hanging baskets and boxes overflowing with flowers. Some of the town’s vintage buildings have been restored and painted with colorful murals depicting Port Angeles’ history. Sculptures, some with a nautical theme, can be found here and there. When you get hungry, you won’t have any trouble finding a restaurant to suite your taste—” AND
These are excerpts from the 6-page center section of the July, 2007 issue of the magazine Nor’westing. “Shopping is a memorable experience in old town Port Angeles. We found tattoo parlors, bookstores, artist supply shops, a movie theater, a shop selling fly tying materials, second-hand stores, a community department store, and a host of other unique shopping experiences. Anybody willing to admit to being as old as I am will remember a TV commercial from the 1950s, and know that “half the fun of having feet is Red Goose Shoes!”… I wasn’t aware that Red Goose shoes were still in production, until I noticed the freshly painted or restored Red Goose on the wall of a shoe store in downtown Port Angeles… Public art is absolutely everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to walk half a block through the old town district without encountering sculptures and murals depicting the natural environment of history of Port Angeles. Perhaps at the end of an afternoon in Port Angeles, climb the steep stairway between First and Second streets, just above the mural depicting the Olympic Mountains. You will find yourself atop a cliff, and standing where generations of settlers and Natives have undoubtedly stood in the past to behold Port Angeles Harbor. The sun may pry the clouds apart long enough to slant in over your shoulder and energize the stars and stripes of Old Glory, snapping at the town flagpole below. You will see spread out before you a rare sight in this day and age: a genuine place with an independent identity. Established by hardscrabble loggers, expanded by idealistic socialists, and populated today by industrious people who may not bother to precisely define where the sea ends and the town begins, or the exact margin of the forests beyond. You will need to puzzle for yourself whether the utopian dream died out entirely here, or whether there are vestiges remnant in the pragmatism, the optimism, and the cheerful adaptability of her residents.”
DOWNTOWN --
ENJOY! EXPLORE! EXPERIENCE!
