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closeBringing art indoors
Puyallup adds to Outdoor Gallery with rotating works at Activity Center
Chris Albert / of The Herald
Puyallup is becoming a destination for art, but not just the Outdoor Gallery that is present throughout the city. The Premier Gallery at the Puyallup Activity Center will feature watercolor paintings from Tacoma artist Val Persoon through Feb. 27.
“It’s fairly new,” Persoon said. “It’s kind of exciting to watch.”
Since last May, the Premier Gallery in the city’s Activity Center has featured paintings from several local artists.
“People now recognize Puyallup as a place where there is visible art,” said Rosemary Eckerson of Valley Arts United.
For several years, the local group of artists and art enthusiasts called Valley Arts United have strived to bring to life art in Puyallup. There is the featured outdoor gallery that has come to include more than 32 sculptors that are located throughout the city.
Eckerson and Connie Diffenderfer are curators for the gallery from Valley Arts United. When the city built the activity center, economic development plans showed art is something the community values, Eckerson said, so the city added gallery light fixtures and a hanging system to feature paintings in the building.
“I think it shows a real commitment from the city,” Eckerson said.
And interest is growing, Diffenderfer said, with more participation from the community and excitement for added flavor an indoor gallery brings to art in Puyallup.
“It’s such a beautiful building so it’s a nice space for art to hang,” Diffenderfer said. “We hope it will become more of an art spot.”
The featured art is for sale, with the all volunteer art group getting a commission from the sales. About every three months a new artist or group of artists are featured.
Persoon is familiar with Puyallup and for years has featured her paintings at local events like The Fair.
“Puyallup is a sweet town,” she said. “I think of it as home. I may actually move there.”
Many of the members of Valley Arts United have taken her intense watercolor course. It is how she was added to the rotating gallery.
“She’s an amazing watercolor artist,” Diffenderfer said. “I took classes from her.”
Persoon focuses on technique and color schemes before she decides on a subject for her paintings. Many of her pieces reflect her own memories and the landscape of living by Puget Sound.
One of her favorite pieces is featured in the gallery, called “Rockingchair Afternoon.”
It’s her memory of her grandmother sitting in a rocking chair with the Bible in hand. When she was a child, the afternoon was her grandmothers time to sit and read the Bible.
It was really her time to sleep, Persoon said.
“There’s something about that piece that captures my comfort level,” she said.
It’s like comfort food, she added.
For many years, art in the South Sound has been overshadowed by Seattle, Persoon said, but it’s starting to come around.
People can get great art in this area, she said, it has at least the same quality and it costs a little less.
Her originals are usually between $500 and $1,000, with some reprints costing as little as $100.
Shows like the Premier Gallery give local artists a place to feature their work and bring an art identity to the area, Persoon said.
“It’s like suddenly it’s OK to say there’s art in the South Sound,” she said.
After Persoon’s show, the gallery will feature historical photos and paintings that reflect Puyallup’s past.
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Gallery information
The Premier Gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday at the Puyallup Activity Center, 210 West Pioneer in Puyallup.
> Val Persoon’s paintings will be featured until Feb.. 27. For more information, go to www.valpersoon.com
> For more information about Valley Arts United, go to www.valleyartsunited.org.