Live performance art coming to SJIMA, featuring Bellingham artist

||| FROM DIANE MARTINDALE for SAN JUAN ISLANDS MUSEUM OF ART |||

Bellingham artist, Francie Allen, will be in Friday Harbor Saturday evening, November 6 to present a live dance performance at the San Juan Islands Museum of Art. The performance will be held in the museum’s Atrium to highlight Allen’s current exhibit at SJIMA, On Being Alive!. The exhibit features wire and mesh sculptures, suspended in air or free standing, emulating fluid movement and dance concepts.

Allen began sculpting with wire and mesh in 2009 while caring for her husband, who struggled with Alzheimer’s Disease. After his death in 2019 she re-visited her creative work with an eye towards what it means to be alive, exploring and honoring the natural movement and flow of the human body. The sculptures in this exhibit embody this theme.

Dancer: Valerie Goliff   Photo credit:  Elena Stecca

The On Being Alive! exhibit is accompanied by music created by Allen’s son, Nick Tipp. Tipp, a Los Angeles based recording engineer, mixer, and audio/video producer, will be joining his mother for the performance.

Doors open at 4:00 pm for the event, with the performance beginning at 4:30. Admission is on a pay as you can basis. Masks will be required, following the county guidelines.

Francie Allen’s On Being Alive! show is partnered with the current Go Figure! and Going The Distance exhibits at SJIMA, on display until December 6, 2021.

On Being Alive! is sponsored by The Honeywell Charitable Fund, National Endowment for the Arts, Washington State Art Commission, Harbor Rentals, Browne’s Home Center, Orcas Island Community Foundation and the San Juan Island Community Foundation.

Located in Friday Harbor at 540 Spring Street, the hours are Friday-Monday from 11-5. Admission to the whole museum is $10, with SJIMA members and those 18 and under admitted free. Mondays are Pay as You Can Days. For further information visit www.sjima.org.