A gallery without hang-ups

We all occasionally need a little dose of the unexpected.

The art gallery curiously named Art/Not Terminal specializes in it, showcasing art with a laissez-faire attitude.

Gallery founder Lonny Johnson refers to the free-wheeling system as "democratic."

At this artist-run gallery, the art is not judged or censored before it is displayed. Artists pay a nominal fee and hang their own work.

Regular patrons know that means provocative and possibly graphic art will be shown next to traditional portraits. They know that collages are combined with sculptures and that some artists are experienced while others are newbies.

"It's not like a vanity gallery where you go and spend a lot of money to put on a show," said Phil Fagerholm, an artist and gallery volunteer. "It's a place where anybody who wants to can show their work, whether they have access somewhere else or not."

The gallery, located in the Denny Triangle area, was developed as a nonjuried, uncensored space "just for the sake of fairness, really," Johnson said. "When I look at art, there's some I like and some I don't like."

A great place for deals

At Art/Not Terminal Gallery, artists set their own prices — which can be a boon for budget-minded art lovers searching for original works.

Prices range wildly, from $25 (the cost per piece to hang at the gallery) to thousands. Pieces average between $300 and $1,000.

The art changes monthly, with a designated hanging night at the beginning of each month and a rotating featured artist selected ahead of time. The next group of artists will be available to view starting July 8.

The gallery opened 17 years ago at an old bus terminal, and to make sure people didn't get confused about the building's new purpose, they called it Art/Not Terminal Gallery. (The gallery has since moved to its current site.)

Art/Not Terminal works much the same way as it did when it first opened. Artists show up on a scheduled hanging night, pay their fee and hang their art.

"The primary goal is to have display space for artists," Johnson said, adding that there is a need locally.

The gallery has anchored his artistic career, Johnson said, giving him the motivation and an outlet for artwork he might not otherwise have created.

Owning their art

Some artists who have shown at Art/Not Terminal have moved on to shows at other galleries around Seattle, while others have made it a full-time career, like the current featured artist, Mark Eaton.

Eaton began showing his work at Art/Not Terminal four years ago, when he started painting full-time. Though he supplements his income by showing art at various locales, like colleges and coffee houses, he shows regularly at the gallery.

"It's a great space for young artists to experience hanging for the first time and owning their art on a whole new level — having strangers look at them, learning to deal with judgment of folks enjoying them or not," he said.

Sam Caldwell, May's featured artist, started showing her mixed-media paintings here after taking an art class at the University of Washington.

"More than anything, it's allowed me to decide I want to work on showing more paintings at other places, too, and to meet a whole variety of artists that I don't know I'd have contact with anywhere else," she said.

But hanging at Art/Not Terminal can be tricky. Some pieces are controversial and can draw most of the attention, like a recent nude picture. That's frustrating if it takes attention away from your work, Eaton said.

Caldwell, who also volunteers here, concurred. The openness of the gallery is its strength, she said, but sometimes her work hangs next to artwork she never would choose on her own.

But, "I wouldn't get up to be there at 8:45 Saturday and Sunday mornings to open the gallery if I didn't believe it was valuable," she said.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com