New gallery in Elmo open

ELMO - The talent has begun to come out of the woodwork in Elmo and artists are showing off their creations at a new gallery in town.

Located just south of the post office in Elmo, the Ksukqa i•nam Gallery - meaning "fine quality handwork" in Kootenai - opened its doors less than two months ago and already 17 local artists are displaying their work.

"It makes me smile coming in here," volunteer and organizer Donna Heffner said. "I get a good feeling coming in here. I'd just like to see it better used."

The building has been completely refurbished, with help from local contractors and suppliers who provided goods and services at or near cost, Heffner said. The result is a beautiful structure, with plenty of light and wall space, as well as nooks and crannies, for artists to display their work.

"The building was originally a church and then a fiberglass shop," Heffner said. "Cleaning the fiberglass and working on the floor were the biggest projects."

The building looks brand-new, and a comment in the gallery's guestbook even commented on its new look and the floor work. Curious tourists from Paris, France and Hawaii already visited the one-room gallery, signing the guest book and complimenting the hard work.

The displaying of work is just part of the purpose of the gallery. Several classes have already been held at the building with plans for more, Heffner said, including a doll workshop in the near future.

"We've already had classes on painting on rocks, watercolor, Ukrainian eggs and poster lettering," she said. "All the classes and materials were free. We have the space to accommodate about 10 or 12 people."

The BDE Committee - Big Arm, Dayton and Elmo - set up the gallery with help from a variety of different grants. Everyone who works at the gallery is a volunteer and BDE is a non-profit organization. The building is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., as much time as Heffner can afford to give, but she hopes other people will start soon so the gallery can stay open longer.

"We have three other people hoping to contribute time," she said. "We'd also like to have a local artist create some bigger signs so we are more visible.

Not only do artists get to show off their work, many leave numbers and contact information so they can sell their pieces. It's not just professionals either - a 9-year-old boy painted a watercolor scene and has proudly displayed it with an accompanying $15.99 price tag. More unique items are what Heffner hopes contributing artists strive for as well.

"We're not stuck on one particular kind of piece, we have all types of artwork," she said. "We encourage people who are really organic, people using the whole animal for their work or recycling,"

Traditional Native American pieces are found throughout, including those using antlers, fur, leather and even the jawbone of a forest creature. One piece by featured artist Vicki Brown uses an ostrich egg as a light bulb cover. Painted on the egg is the design from a wooden nickel, with a buffalo on one side and an Indian head on the other. Other items include buffalo yarn, knitted items, pencil work and paintings.

The youth may be Heffner's biggest target audience. Busy with back to school activities and earlier with powwow season, Heffner said children have yet to really come out to the gallery. But the valuable time they can spend with her learning artwork is time they can keep busy, learn something new and stay out of trouble.

"The kids love it and they need a place they can come and be creative and not have people standing over their shoulder," Heffner said. "If you let them work with what they have inside them, they come up with very imaginative ideas. [The gallery] gives them ideas that they might not have otherwise."

Virgil Mathias came last Thursday afternoon to ask Heffner about a leather pouch he had created and to explore the gallery. He hopes to contribute drums and other artwork to the gallery, and was impressed with the pieces already adorning the interior of the facility.

"This is awesome," Mathias said. "This town needs a boost. There's a lot of talent in this town but they don't know how to set it up."

Heffner's hoping she and other volunteers can help with that process and two months in, it seems the transformation is beginning.