Moving On

Final Arts Alive! for Accident Gallery and other pre-holiday happenings

(Dec. 2, 2010) Ouch! It saddens me to begin with unhappy tidings my first time writing Art Beat, but the Accident Galley is on its way out. Co-owners Phyllis Barba and Matthew Ananda Oliveri supplied the details.

“Foremost,” said Matthew, “we would like to say to all of our friends and the public that closing the gallery was a personal decision based on our need for more time to pursue our individual art careers.” Both Phyllis and Matthew are working artists and are raising a 5-year-old daughter.

The Last Hipster visits the Shanty (2025) SPRAY PAINT ON ACRYLIC WITH PHOTOGRAPH BY ANANDA OLIVERI

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“Yes, it was kind of an ‘accident’ that we stayed in Eureka,” said Phyllis. “When we first came to Eureka from Chicago in August 1999, I was planning on taking a furniture-making course at CR, but the program was then being offered only in Fort Bragg and we preferred to stay In Eureka.”

Matthew said, “Getting to know the art scene in 2000, we realized that there were very few places to show art that were not also retail stores, and not many opportunities for artists who were just starting out. We wanted to be part of the art community, but we weren’t fired up about any one group or scene. None of the venues seemed perfect for us or for many of the artists that we knew. So we decided to do it ourselves.”

Phyllis and Matthew found an empty room that could be used as a makeshift gallery for Arts Alive!, which was just getting started, and invited 10 or 15 friends to show their work. They did about a year in phantom galleries in several empty stores and also created a miniature show in its own tent.

In 2004, with other partners, they created the current gallery at 210 C Street.

The gallery was never a co-op but a membership. “Frankly, we were a bit wistful that we had created for others the kind of situation we wanted for ourselves: a place to show without all the maintenance and scheduling, and trying to make it work financially,” said Matthew.

“All in all, it’s been a wonderful six years,” said Phyllis. “The closing is bittersweet but we are really excited about what’s next.”

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TWO Comments

Comment / By Maddy Shernock / Dec. 2, 3:58 p.m.

I’m so sad to see the AG going, but I know all the folks involved are bound for wonderful, bigger, and even better things. Thanks you two for everything you’ve done for the Eureka community, for giving weirdos a place to put up their art, for being an excellent venue for rad musicians and poets (and having all-ages shows!), and for making Arts Alive and Old Town a hipper, less sketchy place for us all! I can only hope the people filling that space will be half as cool as you!!

Comment / By sucks / Today, 9:07 a.m.

All things Humboldt would lose a true treasure if that which the Accident Gallery provides is lost…I wish it was within my power to do more than just be present at their shows, the accident gallery is always a must-see on the art night walkabout.

Kudos to Larry Glass and friends for carrying the momentum!