Palouse artists show at Pullman brewery

In an open letter to men they met at coffee shops or bookstores, someone wrote the following;

“I don’t know what it is about your books and your maps and your chewed pencils and your clipboard and your small notebooks and your tapping fingers and your preoccupied way of drawing in the margins.”

The next frame reads, “I have never been able to resist sincere eye contact.”

The letter is one piece of a collaborative art show of Palouse artists now decorating the interior of Pullman’s Paradise Creek Brewery.

Eight artists from the town of Palouse have entered a collection of 30 or so pieces that now line the walls of the pub.

“I think it just adds a little more depth to the atmosphere,” said Scott Mackey, creative director for the brewery.

On the brewery’s main floor, a set of collages by artist Mary Rothlisberger lines the wall. One picture depicts a young girl with someone holding her head in their hand. A cone jutting from her head reads, “Come hell or high water.”

Rothlisberger said her collages are a running commentary of her life experiences day to day. As she creates a collage over a period of time, she may add or take away a piece of art in reflection of her mood.

“Mine are just sort of responses to the material I am using and also meditation on whatever it is I am experiencing at that time,” Rothlisberger said.

Of that particular collage with the young girl, Rothlisberger wouldn’t pinpoint its meaning. Instead, she pointed out all the collages have a theme of loss and beauty because loss is a daily phenomena we all live with as individuals and communities.

“In the community recently, we’ve had a lot of loss,” she said.

The group of artists in the show are close and often make art together in Palouse.

Mackey too lives in Palouse and sat in on creating the open letters six months ago. He and some of the artists in the show worked on the giant snow triceratops that appeared in town two weeks ago.

They had a Thanksgiving dinner together this year at the apartment of artist David Wold above Palouse’s Green Frog.

“We’re all transplanted from other places,” Mackey said.

Of the open letter about men in coffee shops, Mackey said it was a more intimate insight to a common longing people may experience.

“I’m sure anyone who has spent time in a coffee shop has thought they were falling in love with someone in there,” Mackey said.

The brewery regularly brews a selection of ales. Acting as both a bar and restaurant, it strives to buy local products and support local businesses, so including art from Palouse is key, Mackey said.

“It ties back to the creative community that is on the Palouse,” Mackey said.