A retrospective of Sequim’s Blue Whole Gallery as it turns 20

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 24, 2017

What used to be the Rose Victorian gift shop with carpet, green painted ceilings and pink and green rose wallpaper, has transformed over 20 years into what is now the Blue Whole Gallery: an open, 2,000-square-foot artists’ co-op with wood floors, white walls and plenty of lighting to display a variety of local artwork from gallery members.

Barbara Boerigter, a founding member of the gallery and its longest active member since its opening on June 14, 1997, said the gallery opened at a time when there was a need to fill a void in the community after Judy Priest closed her art gallery on Sequim Avenue after 14 years.

“She decided to retire and that left a void in town,” Boerigter said.

Boerigter was the president of Sequim Arts — now Olympic Peninsula Art Association — at the time and said gallery members talked about possibily opening a new gallery.

Those that were interested started meeting at Red Ranch Restaurant — which no longer exists — and came up with the idea of the Blue Whole Gallery located at 129 W. Washington St. in Sequim.

“It’s a lot of work but it’s very satisfying,” Boerigter said. “It’s just part of me.”

The gallery currently features 24 artists and encompasses a wide range of mediums such as oils, acrylic, watercolor, mixed media, assemblage, photography, fused glass, ceramics, wood sculpture and jewelry.

“There are so many talented artists in the area,” Boerigter said. “We are all local.”

Members do make an exception though for one member living in Bremerton who previously lived in Sequim.

Boerigter said the name of the gallery came from the term, “blue hole” — a term pilots used to explain the Sequim area while making their weather reports.

“When we wanted to come up with a name that meant something here, we put the “w” in front of (hole) which encompasses the whole of us,” she said. “Where we are greater than the sum of our individual pieces.”

Over the years, Boerigter said the gallery has featured more than 100 local artists’ work.

“The enthusiasm has moved from generation to generation to expand what (members) do,” said the the Gallery’s board president Joyce Volmut.

Volmut, a woodwork artist who has served on the board three years and as president for the last year, said from the time she has been a member she has seen many artists change their style, which the gallery embraces.

“There is a freedom in the gallery,” said watercolorist Barbara Neswald, a new member of the gallery.

Boerigter said the gallery always has been a co-op, meaning the gallery is owned and operated by members that share support, criticism and new ideas with each other day in and out.

“It’s very rare to have this kind of display,” Boerigter said of the gallery.

The pieces in the gallery are displayed so the artwork “bounces off of each other” Boerigter said. One artist’s work may not all be arranged together but spread out throughout the gallery based on colors, textures or mediums of other work.

The gallery also features a student artist from the community each month and sponsors a scholarship to a graduating Sequim High School senior that wants to have art in his or her life.

“Buying pieces of art is discretionary, but everyone has an internal need for beauty, music or drama,” Boerigter said. “We just happen to be a visual way of doing it.”

The event

The Blue Whole Gallery will celebrate its 20 years as an artists’ co-op with a birthday celebration from 5-8 p.m. Friday, June 2, at the Blue Whole Gallery on 129. W. Washington St. in Sequim.

The event will include refreshments, a silent auction of “culinary art” donated from 10 local food establishments and 20 percent off select artwork from various artists. The event is free to the public as part of the First Friday Art Walk.

To learn more about the Blue Whole Gallery, visit http://bluewholegallery.com/.