Dec 27, 2005 - 02:01:58 CST
Bismarck Tribune
By VIRGINIA GRABy VIRGINIA GRANTIER
It's got to be hard to miss them - the about 400 paintings, oils, watercolors and so on, of various sizes, covering most of the wall space.
No, it's not hard.
Because first you have to find the wall space.
And to find the wall space, you have to find the basement. And to find the basement, well, there are a couple ways to do that.
Some people find it through word-of-mouth communications.
Some people find it quite by accident.
There are a couple little signs with the word "Gallery"and the number "522" on some basement windows on a building on quiet Mandan Street near West Main Avenue. Someone with good eyesight might see the signs. Someone with curiosity might just decide to stop and check it out.
That means opening the glass door on the Mandan Street side of the turn-of-the-century building and walking down the 10 steps into the basement and then taking two lefts.
If a curious person takes those steps, it can be found - the only spot in Bismarck where local artists can hang their art year-round if they're members of Gallery 522's artist co-op.
The co-op has been in existence since 1988, but it is still as quiet as a library - quieter.
"Alot of people who live right here in town don't have any idea we're in existence,"said Vidette Freier, 79, of Bismarck, one of the founding co-op artists.
But there are enough people that know about it, a lot of them out-of-state people, so that the co-op continues to be worthwhile for the artists and for the students and adults that get tours and take classes there.
Recently, a San Diego man bought four paintings by Freier. And a Colorado Springs, Colo., woman bought several.
"I've had a terrific year,"Freier said.
The co-op opened at a different location in 1988 with about 25 artists. There are now 16 artists, the youngest in the 40s, and Gallery 522 is now at 200 W. Main Ave.
It's been a couple years since a new member has joined the co-op, and any and all credible artists are welcome.
"We're not choosy about style - just that it's credible artwork," said Stephanie Delmore, an artist and community volunteer who thought up the co-op idea years ago.
Member artists can either be working or non-working members.
But monthly dues for working members, who volunteer to oversee the gallery once a week for about three hours, are cheaper, $20, and the gallery only takes a 10 percent commission on sales of working members' pieces. Non-working members don't have to volunteer, but they pay more, $28 a month, and pay the gallery a 20 percent commission.
Rebecca Young, a local artist, said she has thought about joining, but Young, a Bismarck High School art teacher, too, is worried about over-extending herself.
"The location isn't that good, too," she said.
But regardless, long-time painters and charter members such as Delmore, Freier, Susan Lundberg, Phyllis Tarnasky and Rosemary Landsberger, now in her 80s, continue to display there. Landsberger has sold paintings now displayed in such places as a New York law firm.
Delmore said the co-op members are committed to continue helping local artists and introducing art and classes to the community.
The co-op's goal: "Just keep on keeping on is a pretty lofty goal," Delmore said.
To meet operating expenses, there's help from grants and from an antique shop that sublets part of the gallery space. But the antique shop is moving out and the co-op, which about breaks even every year, needs the rent. An idea is shaping up that may accomplish that and add new blood to the gallery.
The gallery might soon see new faces. The sublet area may be filled by artist Eloi Cyril, 22, of Bismarck, a photographer and a painter who has an impressionistic style, and a couple of his artist friends.
"We'd bring more diverse stuff into (the gallery)," he said.
Gallery 522's December show features numerous pieces by Landsberger, as well as three rooms full of other artists' creations. The gallery's hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
(Reach reporter Virginia Grantier at 250-8254 or at virginia.grantier@;bismarcktribune.com)
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