Most people can appreciate art, but I think many may be like me. They don’t know if it’s good or bad, or why it costs so much and are generally intimidated by the typical gallery. Is someone judging the size of my pocketbook or looking down their nose and wondering why I would even bother looking?

Fortunately, not all galleries are created equal. Our neighbor, Naomi Joy, costumer, designer, sculptor, and performance artist, started a space just over a year ago. She calls it the “Island”. It is a very unique, wonderful and ever-changing space available to an artist or group of artists for creative exploration, workspace or platform to showcase their creativity. This is not your typical white wall gallery (in fact the walls are bright red!). Shows tend toward the eccentric. As an artist or group takes up residency they are encouraged to completely “inhabit” the space of the room, not just the walls. Shows have been running about every other month and consist of an artist or a group collaborating around a specific theme.

Her vision is to blend fine art with a pop up store, magic with creativity and art with necessity. She would really like to have small, one of a kind, locally made gift items available as the gallery evolves.

Past shows include the popular, and now annual, Christmas Toy Store. Last year had a “Creepsmith” theme and showcased 100 individual and highly unique toys created by four local artists. Her latest installment was the Room of 49 masks where 7 artists each created 7 masks. The masks were truly everything from creepy to mystical. Next month will bring Candida Pagan, a book/print/paper artist. Watch for signs and times to be posted mid-August.

I really look forward to visiting the gallery and having a place to “escape” for a moment, without even leaving my neighborhood! A website will be up and running shortly, but in the meantime, any questions may be directed to [email protected].

During installments, hours will be posted in the window on left of the door, along with a little sneak peek of what you might find beyond.

Naomi Joy
Island School Museum
2222 ½ 35th Street S
[email protected]

Kelly Savage is a resident of Corcoran neighborhood, and a volunteer reporter with Corcoran News to spotlight local businesses. If you know of a business in neighborhood that should be spotlighted, please contact [email protected].