Shifting space

By Zach Hagadone
Reader Staff

After four years of operating a studio gallery space at 104 S. Second Ave., local artist Woods Wheatcroft is closing the doors — but not before hosting one more event that he referred to as the “Closing Opening” on Thursday, May 29.

“I’ve always kind of moved around as an artist; I’ve always kind of shifted my working spaces,” Wheatcroft told the Reader. “I feel like I wanted to experience the vulnerability of having a store front again, and mission accomplished.”

Collage by Woods Wheatcroft.

Perhaps best known for his photography, Wheatcroft has shot for big-name companies like Patagonia, Kavu and Kleen Kanteen, but also contributed regularly to print publications from Outside Magazine to Sandpoint Magazine and the Reader. His collage oeuvre — for which he’s also well known — included the 2022 Festival at Sandpoint concert poster, and it’s an art form he’s taught others, including at the studio gallery.

“Doing collage nights was a real highlight — extending into that teaching space and opening this space up for people to come and practice making art,” Wheatcroft said, later describing the events and classes at the Second Avenue location as “a bit of a philanthropic vibe,” where he invited friends and visitors alike to “experience art in a really raw form.” 

Wheatcroft said he’s been reflecting on those years, and realized the irony that having such a visible, dedicated “fishbowl” workspace actually ended up being a distraction.

“I guess I didn’t realize how much work it takes, how many variables there are,” he said. “It’s one thing to visit the space, it’s another thing to have the audience engage with the artwork and engage with what I’ve created enough to take it to the next level. …

“It’s almost like a musician who chooses to sell guitars and forgets to write songs,” he added. “I did kind of detach a little bit from going out and actually shooting, which is my primary skill set.”

The May 29 event, which will take place from 5 p.m. to 9 or 10 p.m., will serve as “just sort of a last hurrah happy hour here at the studio: music, libations, that sort of thing. Grab a piece of art if it moves you.”

DJ Nutzo will perform and attendees will toast to Wheatcroft’s efforts to bring “art in a really raw form” to downtown.

“I kind of want to ground back into what it feels like to just create again and create grounded into my home environment,” he said, nodding to what the future might hold with him working out of a home studio and hosting occasional gatherings “without that distraction of paying the monthly rent and throwing events every month.” 

“Sandpoint is still an events-based economy, I think,” he said, later describing the challenges of operating a venue for expression in a small-town market. “What’s sort of tiring over time is that hustle and that energy.”

“We call ourselves an art town here, but I don’t know if I’m buying that right now,” he said. 

Though Wheatcroft is shuttering the studio gallery, he’s set to begin showing his art at Bluebird Bakery beginning around June 1, and has established a long relationship with Idaho Pour Authority, where his pieces are currently on display.

The May 29 gathering will feature collage collections, metal prints, loose prints, cards and other pieces for sale, and fans of his work can look forward to a home show sometime at the end of the summer or beginning of fall.

“I have thrived when I’ve shifted up again,” Wheatcroft said.

Go to woodswheatcroft.com for more info, and follow instagram.com/woodswheatcroft_studiogallery for updates.