Have you been missing art walks, museums, and galleries? Are your children short on exposure to the arts? Consider taking the whole family to Gallery Syre. Near Whatcom Community College, the airy 10,000-square-foot gallery presents a new multi-generational exhibition, Origins and Evolutions: Five Generations, set to run through May 22 or later.
The exhibit showcases more than 110 paintings, drawings, and three-dimensional collages from multiple generations of artists in the Anderson/Syre family. The path of art for this family began in 1888 with the birth of Clara “Grandma Joe” Anderson, who began painting in the early 1960s at the age of 72. You will see hints of Nordic art in her landscape paintings that reflect the Scandinavian roots of the Anderson and Syre families.
Grandma Joe was close with her grandson, David Syre, a talented multimedia artist, philanthropist, and Whatcom County native. David’s creative world — one that encompasses hundreds of drawings, paintings, and sculptures — began when his twin daughters, Mia and Amy, gifted him art supplies one Christmas. Like his grandmother, David also waited until he was 72 to dedicate himself fully to his art.
The work of David’s daughter and Clara’s great-granddaughter, Amy Healy, rounds out the exhibition by Argentine curator Ana Palacio, a formally trained Seattle-based multimedia artist who studied art at Scripps College in Chicago. Healy takes everyday items — feathers, spools empty of thread, Christmas ornaments, and scraps of paper — to produce whimsical works. In Origins and Evolutions, the art of the Anderson and Syre families will live on to inspire future generations of artists, both within the family and beyond.
Whether you’re looking to get your family out of the house, expand your arts enrichment and education, or just want to feel inspired, a visit to Gallery Syre will not disappoint. Check their website for hours, or schedule an appointment by phone or by email at info@davidsyreart.com. 456 W. Stuart Rd., Bellingham, 360.746.8745, davidsyreart.com
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