Local artist to host ongoing art appreciation talks

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Art is one of those mediums that gives back just as much as it takes. Stare at the same painting for long enough, you’ll reach new levels of depth and understand, perhaps, what motivated a particular artist to create the piece.

In that vein, local artist Alison Barrows-Young is hosting a series of ongoing “art appreciation talks” in conjunction with POAC to help art lovers better understand why they might be moved by a style or medium.

The talks will take place throughout the summer, from Friday, June 20 until Sept. 12 on a variety of subjects. The classes will take place at the POAC Gallery (313 N. Second Ave., in downtown Sandpoint) and attendance is $18 per session; but, as Barrows-Young said, “If someone can’t afford to attend, I’ll find a way to make it possible for them.”

Alison Barrows-Young. Courtesy photo

Barrows-Young has not only been an artist all her life, but also a teacher, making her a great choice to guide participants into a better understanding of art around them.

“I’ve been a teacher my whole life and an artist my whole life,” she told the Reader. “I haven’t done anything else. I was able to continue and be inspired through conversations I had with my mother, who was also an artist.”

After her mother passed away, Barrows-Young said she felt something was missing.

“I was lonely,” she said. “So I got a studio downtown and, since we talked a lot about abstract art toward the end of her life, I’ve been trying to discover abstract art in my own voice for about a year now.”

Barrows-Young began to host art nights on Fridays at her downtown studio, mostly teaching abstract art. She said she was astounded to see how many people showed up regularly.

“Now we have this wonderful community of people who come here on Friday afternoons who make art and talk about art,” she said. “I said, ‘I need more.’”

So Barrows-Young partnered with POAC, establishing a plan to host six art appreciation talks in the hopes of getting more people interested in art.

“There’s a lot of negative stuff going on right now,” she said. “One of the things we don’t do on Fridays in my classes is talk about politics or stupidity. We really just try to focus on this fabulous world that is art.”

The June 20 session is titled, “An Ancient Cross-Cultural Language for Understanding Art,” in which Barrows-Young will explain how visual arts cut through the idea of having to learn something linguistically. She’ll talk about everything from 14,000-year-old cave paintings to the elements of shape, color, movement and composition.

On Friday, July 25, she will focus on “When American Voices Rocked the World,” a session exploring the prolific period when expressionist artists gathered in New York City, establishing the city as a cultural center of the world.

The Friday, Aug. 8 class will be dedicated to “Women’s Voices,” a lecture on how women have been a part of visual arts, and what their impact has been on the medium.

“Black American Voices” will be the focus on Friday, Aug. 26, recognizing the need for Black artists to retell their histories and share their culture.

The series will conclude on Friday, Sept. 12 with “American Indigenous Voices,” a deep-dive into how various Native American cultures are reflected in art.

Those interested in signing up for one or all classes can contact Barrows-Young at Violetbluestorm@gmail.com.