Eight years ago, Kate Remington looked into the storefront window at 613 Sixth St. and saw it with an artist's eye:
The hole in the roof, which created a hole in the floor on the second story, was a challenge an artist could love. An opportunity to flood the interior with light had presented itself! Typical artist's think.
And so a great working studio with natural light on historic Sixth Street was born.
Now Kate's muse is leading her into the great outdoors and a big green space. "It's time to get the cement mixer out of the building," she says. "Time to find a pole barn in the country, and garden space" to show her sculptures. "I'm working bigger," she says, "and I want to see them outside, in a really special space."
She's looking around St. Joseph, Michigan, across the big lake, an area similar to Racine: affordable, touristy, with a vibrant arts community. She's been selling her sculptures there for a while.
And so, she's selling her stuff, her building. Moving on. "Somebody will love this building as much as I have," she says. "You don't have to be an artist; maybe even a lawyer, or a 'City Hall lifer.' " Nah, an artist is better.
Poke Around: An Historic Building Tour, a/k/a/ the Stuff Show on Saturday, Nov. 17, from 6 - 9 p.m. will be the last time Remington-May participates in Gallery Night.
The public is invited on Gallery Night to take a guided tour of Remington-May Gallery's historic building, which is rated an "excellent example of its period" by the 1974 Johnson, Johnson & Roy architectural survey of Racine.
How does an artist renovate a building? What is essential? What is treasured? You will see a retrospective of art work in the hallways and throughout the building. What does an artist collect? What does an artist treasure?
Kate says, "make me an offer on some of this stuff that I can't refuse! Maybe you have always wanted a classic claw tub with trees growing in it? What's it worth to you?? How about an old frame? Always wanted an ancient typewriter? Want some thick old glass? Yes! What about a 9-fuse bomb box, vintage Viet Nam War?"
What about it, indeed.
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