The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

Cathlamet’s Tsuga Gallery, Janet Cimino’s gift and vision to the community, has re-opened following a remodeling that created more display space and a classroom area with a kitchen.

The Tsuga Art Association runs the gallery and includes about 25 artists in various media, who have been meeting and electing officers, developing an organizational structure and procedures to admit new members since this summer. Full members staff the gallery in shifts to lower their dues and commissions.

The gallery at 70 Main Street is displaying visual art, jewelry, books and music from artists living within or close to Wahkiakum County. The gallery opened in the summer, and had brisk sales.

“We are interested in bringing culture to the community, not just visual art,” Tsuga Art Association president Judy VanderMaten said.

The gallery has artists waiting to join, and plans to be a force for art in the community. VanderMaten said the association considered sponsoring trips to see art exhibits in other communities.

The remodel included removing walls, updating wiring, and covering windows along the south wall from the inside to create more display space. The windows were shuttered on the outside for aesthetic reasons. A bathroom is now ADA compliant. Large cabinets, formerly in the front room of the Golden Ladder, now line a wall in the classroom.

VanderMaten said the association hopes to hold classes for varied ages and levels of experience.

Cimino was 67 when she died this August, after the gallery she had envisioned opened. The Tsuga Trust she established will support the gallery until it is independent, VanderMaten said.

Some photographs Cimino has taken are displayed in the gallery, and

VanderMaten said the gallery hopes to display more of Cimino’s art collection, and to create a space to house Cimino’s picture framing materials.

Artists who wish to join the gallery should leave their contact information at the gallery, which will be open Monday through Saturday from noon until 6 p.m. The schedule for January is yet to be posted.