Couple's artwork to be shown at downtown gallery, again

New works by longtime Coeur d’Alene artists Allen and Mary Dee Dodge will be featured in a new exhibit opening Friday, June 9, at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene.

An opening reception will be held at the gallery at 415 Sherman Ave. from 5 to 8 p.m. during ArtWalk, which happens in downtown Coeur d’Alene the second Friday of each month from April through December. The Dodge show runs at Art Spirit through July 8.

For over four decades, the Dodges have taken an active role in the region’s thriving art culture. The couple’s artistic contributions, inspired in part by collaborations with Spokane’s icon Harold Balazs, populate private residences and local public areas. Large-scale metal sculpture, colorful enamels, elaborately painted rooms, and creatively designed bike racks are seen throughout the community, including the North Idaho College campus, the Coeur d’Alene Wastewater Treatment Facility, the Coeur d’Alene Public Library, the Hayden Lake Library, Midtown Coeur d’Alene and the Spokane Service Center.

In 1974, the couple moved to Coeur d’Alene and created commissioned pieces for the World’s Fair — Expo ’74 — in Spokane and then became part of the restoration team at historic Cataldo Mission. Over the next 30 years, the couple’s passion for art was seen through their cartooning, pottery, screen-printing, and collaborative whimsical wood sculpture.

In 2007, Allen and Mary Dee worked closely with friend Harold Balazs, who shared his technical secrets and encouraged the pair to experiment in new areas. It is Balazs credit with the inspiration for their current work, which includes brightly patterned enamels by Mary Dee, welded steel sculpture by Allen, and their newest collaborative pieces they call “wall jewelry,” playful enamel assemblages that resemble animal and human forms.

In the upcoming show in Coeur d’Alene, more than 40 new pieces — including sculpture, abstract enamel collages and wall jewelry — will fill the gallery. The couple’s love for experimentation and artistic expression are reflected in their new body of work.

Allen and Mary Dee met while attending the Kansas City Art Institute. Mary Dee graduated with a background in ceramics and Allen with a background in painting and sculpture. The Art Spirit Gallery has shown their work since 2010.