Introducing Dallas Wildeve and Wendy Gingell

This First Friday, which is April 1st coincidentally we will be featuring our New Artists. Both Artists are fairly new to Anchorage and have jumped right in to the Art Scene here. Dallas relocated from Talkeetna and Wendy is from Washington State. Dallas uses predominately salvaged materials in her art making. Currently she is making Thread Sketches on Tyvek wrap and PVC collaged bracelets and unique paper earrings.  More about her in the next few days!

Wendy Gingell visited Upstairs Studio last fall, knowing she was moving north and was taken with the place. She stayed in contact with us and was lucky enough to get a studio space upon moving to Anchorage.

Maybe that's the other way around and we were lucky to have a space on her arrival? You be the judge when you see her unique functional Ceramics. Much more about her on her and her Art on her web site Gingell Ceramics. 

This Friday, April 1 from 5-9pm you can meet Wendy, Dallas and many of the other resident Artists at the Studio. (Bring your check book or cash as there is some great art for sale.)

Come on up and help us welcome Wendy to Upstairs Studio and to Alaska.

First Friday photos

Here are a few images from our March 4 First Friday event. It's lucky the photos were taken early in the evening, because later on it was almost too crowded to take pictures!

Our guest artist, John Hagge, with his display of Alaskan landscapes.

A visitor looks through Marlee Mitchell's cards, in front of her colorful paintings.

And here is a sold piece by Zaynab Falconer.
This is just a small sample of the work available at Upstairs Studio.

Thanks to Erin Osinkosky for these photos!

First Friday, then more fun for Upstairs Studio artists

It's not all slaving away in the studio at Upstairs Studio! On Saturday Erin and Carol took a break from their labors and enjoyed the view of the "running of the reindeer" from the roof. You can see the assembled runners behind Erin here, there was a huge crowd. There were many more people lining 4th Avenue to see the show.


Some runners must have anticipated getting overheated during the event.

Soldiers newly returned from Afganistan got to go first. We're not sure the reindeer ever actually caught up.

Just goes to show that Anchorage is a happening town, and Upstairs Studio is right at the center of the excitement.

The Next Challenge!

Hi all you artists,
Here is the artist challenge for the month. This one gives you a chance to celebrate all the wonderful pets out there, especially pets in or from shelters.

The rules:
Make a piece of art of approximately 8" x 10" in size.
It can be any hand made medium: oil, watercolor, collage, drawing, acrylic, etc.
It should be a portrait of a pet in one of these categories: cat, dog, bird.
Deliver your piece to Upstairs Studio by March 30. It must be ready to hang.
There is an Art Intake form that you will need to submit with your Art. You can find it by following this link: Intake Form

Besides being fun, this challenge will have an extra purpose: to highlight shelter animal adoptions.

If you have or know of a pet who was adopted from a shelter, a portrait of that pet would be ideal. Also, if you would like to take some photos of shelter animals for reference, the nice folks at SPCA are happy to help. Drop by the Thrift Shop (next to Guidos), talk to Katie. Tell her you are taking part in the artist challenge, and she will help you in any way she can. There are cats at the Thrift shop you can visit and photograph.

You can also go to the adoption center, talk to Liz, say you are doing an art piece, and she will assist you.

Once your piece has been displayed at Upstairs Studio, during April First Friday, it will travel to the SPCA.
Your art will be part of their annual fundraising silent auction at Guido's Pizza on April 17th.
You might want to put your contact info on the back of the piece, so your buyer will know which great artist donated the work.

The folks at SPCA are very excited about this project! There will be a sign up sheet at the Upstairs Studio First Friday, or contact Carol. Her email is carol@carollambertarts.com