Char’s Landing has unveiled the second Rotary Arts District Door Jam offering. Owner Charlene Patterson ripped down the covering on the double doors at the former church’s entrance on Tuesday afternoon.
The Door Jam is part of the Rotary Arts District Street Task Force’s mission to beautify Argyle Street from the Rollin Art Centre at Eighth Avenue down to Harbour Quay.
Gale Cyr, a member of the Alberni Valley Wednesday Painters, who meet at Char’s Landing, painted the doors for Char’s Landing.
The bright coloured doors represent an amalgamation of Patterson’s vision and Cyr’s non-objective painting style, Cyr said.
“Char’s vision was bright colours and something that could be seen from a distance and invite people,” Cyr explained.
Char’s Landing is a multi-purpose venue that celebrates arts, music, meetings and physical fitness, and Cyr said the painted doors were a good fit.
Cyr was able to take the doors home to her own studio, where her husband Joe scraped, filled and sanded the doors before helping her apply two coats of primer to make it easier to paint.
Sixteen businesses have signed on for the R.A.D. Door Jam, R.A.D. volunteer and artist Dorothy Jarvis said. They will be paired with local artists for their own Door Jams. The first door was unveiled at a home on Fifth Avenue, within sight of Char’s Landing.
Eventually, the work of 25 artists will be featured in the arts district, Jarvis said. Each door will have a plaque proclaiming the artist whose work is displayed.
Jarvis and the rest of the R.A.D. street task force hope the painted doors and banners will attract more people to the arts district.
Gayle Stephen-Player, president of Historic Southport merchants’ group, was on hand for the unveiling. “This is something positive for Port,” she said.
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