Community turns out to say goodbye to Art Spirit Gallery

Bouquets of colorful roses, notes of gratitude, heartfelt embraces, fond recollections.

Tears.

The Art Spirit Gallery was packed Friday evening as the community said farewell to a space that has meant so much to so many for 30 years.

"When I was in college, I was in art class and we came here for our field trip, and I just loved it," said Kara Glenn of Coeur d'Alene as she viewed "The Spirit of Our Art," a circular altar decorated with postcards and photos chronicling exhibits and events that have taken place at the gallery at 415 Sherman Ave.

"I'm sad it's not going to be here anymore," Glenn said. "I would come in here and remember those days."

Live music played in the background as a sea of people ebbed and flowed throughout the gallery. Many encircled Art Spirit owner Blair Williams, whose damp cheeks gleamed under the lights as she accepted hugs, handshakes and condolences.

Who knows how many times she said, "Thank you" and "I love you, too" to the many friends and patrons who shared their support that night.

"One of my friends emailed me and said, 'It feels like another major piece of culture has been ripped away from us,'" said Kally Thurman, an art dealer from Hope who is a longtime friend of Williams and her Art Spirit predecessor, the late Steve Gibbs. "But in that wound is also opportunity."

She said she has a feeling this will not be the end of the journey for Williams and the legacy she built at Art Spirit.

"There is something new that is going to come out of here," she said.

Thurman said retail has never been more impossible, and that Williams inherited a model that just doesn't work anymore.

"She is still going to be at the apex of that cultural cyclone," Thurman said.
"She is the cultural cyclone."

A never-ending series of challenges besieged the small business for years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, finances, flooding, economic recessions, health issues and more. In January, Williams told The Press she decided to stop talking about it and "stop the bleeding in order to save my family and myself."

Duncan Clark Menzies, who ran events at the Art Spirit for two years, stood in the upper gallery as he took in what he described as surreal.

"I moved away and didn't think I was every going to come back but was forced to come back in 2020," Menzies said.

He said that's when he met Williams, who immediately stepped up to help him find his artistic footing in North Idaho.

"She's like, 'Here's a space, use it,' and this space became like a home," Menzies said. "It kept me in Coeur d'Alene. I don't think I would have stayed unless there was this space."

The Art Spirit allowed him to explore his creativity and connect with other artists.

"Blair creates a space that's stewarding the stories of the artists, and there's no other place that does that," he said. "Working here, I got to meet the artists to learn from them."

He said Williams is all about creative placemaking, and the Art Spirit is an example of such a place.

"Countless nonprofits and community groups have used this space," Menzies said. "For me and some of the other people working here after COVID, it became like family. I know when this place is no longer here that I still have those connections this space brought."

In a Sunday news release, Michael Koep and Friends of The Art Spirit Gallery called for a "George Bailey moment of spirit," encouraging donations of $30 to represent $1 for every year the Art Spirit gave to the community.

"The Art Spirit Gallery is preparing to close its doors — not because they failed to matter, but because they mattered so much for so long," Koep said. "What is being requested now is not a rescue, but a call for a graceful ending. For the past few years, personal funds were contributed, and for over a year, no paycheck was taken, all in an effort to keep the doors open as long as possible, for artists, for the community, for all of us."

The gofundme.com fundraiser will help settle the remaining debts and outstanding obligations, so the Art Spirit can close with the dignity, respect and care it has always shown others.

"This is a George Bailey moment," Koep said, "a reminder that when many people give a little, something meaningful is honored properly."

    Judy Gustavel of Post Falls, right, shares a gentle moment with Art Spirit Gallery owner Blair Williams at the gallery's final community event Friday night. Williams has been friends with Gustavel's daughter, Brooke Mendenhall, center background, since they were in sixth grade.
  

    Roye Ely of Coeur d'Alene prepares to write a note of appreciation for the Art Spirit Gallery during its closing event Friday in downtown Coeur d'Alene.
  

    "The Spirit of Our Art," a 5-foot circular community altar featuring images of artwork from original reception cards spanning three decades of exhibitions, is on display Friday at the Art Spirit Gallery. The altar honors the artists, stewards, staff and community who shaped Art Spirit’s legacy.