Pacific Northwest artist Christa Malay’s work is being featured at the Governor’s Mansion Gallery. The exhibit opened May 12. The art pieces selected for this exhibition are images from her home and community on Lopez Island.
To date, Malay has designed and printed more than 130 commissioned serigraph editions for galleries, resorts and festivals in the western US, and has published over 75 editions of her hand-colored zinc plate etchings. She has also created over 1,500 images using watercolors, pastels and oils, featured in approximately 50 solo gallery exhibitions, as well as numerous group exhibitions and art invitationals.
Many of these works of regional beauty are held in private and corporate collections.
Her inspiration and diligence have been recognized by several arts publications, including a Showcase Award for the Manhattan Arts International Magazine. Her etchings have been published by Island International Artists.
Despite her private nature, Malay has become increasingly involved in local arts advocacy work. She restructured the Lopez Artists Guild and was instrumental in staging an art auction fundraiser for the construction of the Lopez Center for Community and the Arts. She created and continues to organize the annual Lopez Island Art Studio Tour, increasing participation six-fold.
She continually seeks new media to capture her unique and intimate understanding of her environment. Art-making is an extension of her daily life and has always sustained her. In 2008 she opened her island studio and garden-setting showroom to the public. You can find her there working on her paintings or at the etching press.
Visitors to the mansion gallery must schedule guided tours by calling (360) 902-8880. Tours are offered on Wednesdays, beginning at 1 p.m., and last approximately one and a half hours
Some extensive road work has begun around the Capitol Campus, and when arriving in Olympia at Exit 105 – you must now take the City Center ramp, not the Capitol one. The Governor’s Mansion is within the Capitol Campus.
www.christamalay.com
