Vacant buildings downtown are an eyesore and a hindrance to economic development — it seems we've all become hyper-aware of this. The idea to fill those unused spaces with temporary art isn't new to city leaders and creatives — other downtown projects include Laboratory on West Main, and Window Dressing on West First. But local artist Jessica Earle thinks Spokane could definitely use more of a good thing. So earlier this year, Earle, a 28-year-old Bachelor of Fine Arts student at Eastern Washington University, launched Lacuna, a new pop-up art gallery. Its first show was hosted in June at the former White Room event space on West Pacific.
The endeavor's second show is going up in time for this month's First Friday arts showcase on the evening of Sept. 5. Lacuna will remain in place through the month in a recently vacated space in a busy pocket of downtown — the former T-Mobile store on the corner of Main and Wall. Earle says she actually was approached by River Park Square to organize a show there, in hopes that art would detract from the vacancy and potentially attract a new tenant to the prominent retail area.
Artwork is being hung in the space's large, street-facing windows — it won't actually be open to walk through — and includes photography by Kevin Spencer alongside some mixed media and digital work by Earle.
The gallery's name, Lacuna, is a word that references a void, and Earle says that's exactly what the project seeks to do.
"I think this is something that can benefit Spokane, and help take care of some of these raw space issues," Earle says. "I want it to be as big as it can get."
