AND ANDREA ERICKSON PLANS "FLOW"  >>>

Lisa Kinoshita is leaving Mineral, but not leaving Tacoma.

Kinoshita moved to Tacoma from Seattle in 2003 and took over a space that had previously been the Ice Box Gallery at 301 A Puyallup Ave., Tacoma. She lived and worked in the back and exhibited works by area artists in the front, including her own jewelry.

I fired off a few questions to her via e-mail:

ALEC CLAYTON: Can you tell us a little about your ideas for studio work and writing?

LISA KINOSHITA: I want to focus on art making again. And I've been spending a little time around horses, which is a very relaxing and meditative activity for me that gets the creative juices going somehow. I got a TAIP grant to pursue a project I've been obsessing about for years, and an artist residency coming up in December in New Mexico, so those things are on my mind. Right now I have a wonderful freelance job writing about the arts. Thinking about art and artists and writing about them...nothing better.

CLAYTON: What were your goals when you opened the gallery, and do you think you've accomplished them?

KINOSHITA: I had no thoughts of opening a gallery when I moved here, so no expectations. It was just one of those crazy Tacoma opportunities that presented itself.

CLAYTON: Will you be using the same studio space or moving?

KINOSHITA: Moving, but I'll still be in T-town.

CLAYTON: Will your jewelry still be displayed and sold at Mineral?

KINOSHITA: No, Mineral will evolve while I take a break, but I will still be available by appointment. If I reopen it will be something completely different.

CLAYTON: Typical reporter-type question: What were the best and worst experiences in your years of running Mineral?

KINOSHITA: The best part of having a gallery has been discovering and working with artists and exposing others to their work. But - Mineral is different in that in addition to art I displayed natural artifacts (like animal skeletons) and curiosities that attract different kinds of people, so an interesting dialogue has developed over the years. Some people would come in to look at art, some to look at these strangely compelling objects from nature - that's how a conversation starts. My mailing list is a pretty rich stew.

Kinoshita's hiatus starts May 1. She will be collecting rocks, pounding metal and putting together "that pesky, all-akimbo sheep skeleton." Artist Andrea Erickson will be taking over the gallery space. She has shown her sumi art and calligraphy in Mineral and other venues including the Bellevue Art Museum, the Western Washington State Fair, Handforth Gallery at the Tacoma Public Library, the Kirsten, Sandpiper and White Dove Galleries as well as many others. In 2005 Erickson won the Innovative Calligraphy award at the National Sumi-e show in Clearwater, Florida.

Erickson plans on using the space as a working art studio and a gallery. She is naming the space and her business "flow" and plans on having a first show ready for Art Walk in May.