Seattle Sun Newspaper - Vol. 8, Issue 7, July 2004

Copyright 2004 Seattle Sun. Please feel free to use the article below in your research. Be sure to cite the Seattle Sun as your source.

'No niche' gallery offers the unexpected

By JAMES BUSH

The creation of Ballard's Gallery 63 Eleven was about filling a void: literally.

Stephen and Sarah Angell's landlord gave them the chance to lease the empty storefront next to their Primal Screens textile printing business on 24th Avenue Northwest.

Steve, who creates his own limited-edition screen prints, and Sarah, a painter and photographer, first envisioned it as their own personal art studio.

But after joining with other area artists for the Seattle Sampling Sale, a holiday art bazaar held during the first weekend of December 2001, they knew they'd found a better use for the space. "There are so many art studios in Ballard, but no gallery," says Steve.

Well, now there's one. Gallery 63 Eleven is now in its third year of operation, and its stature has grown along with the thriving Ballard Second Saturday ARTwalk. When Steve and fellow Ballard artist Joe Reno opened the gallery with a group show in early 2002, about 25 people attended the opening. "Now we average 125 (people)," says Steve.

One reason for the gallery's success is that audiences literally don't know what to expect. While staying within the basic fine arts genres (painting, printmaking, sculpture, collage, multi-media), Gallery 63 Eleven has managed to keep its audience guessing. "Our niche," says Steve, "has been no niche."

Portland native Steve came to Seattle University to study art and play goalie for the soccer team. He met fellow art major and Blanchet graduate Sarah in a lithography class. Steve's introduction to screen printing came through a job as a student government production artist, silk screening posters to advertise school events. It later expanded into a lucrative side job when his bosses allowed him to use the press to make T-shirts for intramural league teams.

The Angells soon bought their own press and installed it in the basement of Sarah's mother's house, and almost immediately Primal Screens' T-shirts and sweatshirts became a fixture at the Pike Place Market (over the years, their daystall seniority number has gone from 306 to 53). "Those were the days," says Steve. "It was the best Bohemian lifestyle there was." Both still spend time working at their market stall.

Over the years, their press moved through a series of basements, before finding a home at Ballard's Junction Building in 1987. They relocated to their current digs on 24th NW in 1991. Elka Stickelmaier, a photographer who has exhibited her work at 63 Eleven, works with them at the print shop.

Of course, it's sometimes hard to tell where the print shop ends and the gallery begins. Press the doorbell at the gallery and it rings over in the print shop, with Steve, Sarah or Elka slipping out the back door to make their entrance at the rear of the gallery. Many customers have already figured out the drill and just walk into the print shop when they want to look at 63 Eleven's offerings. "It's been easier to keep regular hours because we're next door," says Sarah.

Steve calls their stint as gallery owners "a learning experience on how to market art." Artists are only under contract during their show, but the gallery keeps slides of work from past shows on hand (and often a few works that people have shown interest in) to facilitate after-the-show sales.

One word of advice to 63 Eleven artists: keep things affordable. "A lot of people really like going downtown and going on the art walk, but they're not up to paying four or five thousand dollars for a painting," says Sarah.

What does it take to qualify for a show at the gallery? For starters, say Steve and Sarah, you need a body of work large enough and strong enough to fill the space, but also diverse enough to hold a viewer's attention. Artists are also asked to work on one Saturday during their run (in addition to showing up for the opening night reception).

But the Angells are always prepared for the occasional glitch. When two artists asked for a month's extension on their show this February, Steve and Sarah simply called several Ballard artists they knew and asked them to bring in five pieces each. The result was the successful group show "A Boatload of Art."

Next up is Dean Brewington's one-man show featuring mixed-media images in backlit frames (a display aided by a former tenant who wired the gallery space for use as an office).

What's next for the Angells? They've finished booking the gallery for 2004, but are holding off on scheduling next year's shows to avoid getting ahead of themselves. With their print shop, their gallery, their market stall and their two teenagers (Sam, 16, a Blanchet High School student, and Kelsey, 14, who will start at the Center School next fall), they're keeping plenty busy. Says Sarah: "The teenagers are actually the easy part, compared to the rest."

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Gallery 63 Eleven is located at 6311 24th Ave. NW. For more information, call 478-2238.