Tiny art, big buzz: Gallery 408 in Camas to unveil mini-gallery

Most businesses like to say that big things are about to happen. But Gallery 408 in Camas has some very small things on the horizon.

The gallery’s two owners and their husbands have created a miniature gallery, complete with tiny artworks by eight artists. The little gallery will officially “open” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony — complete with tiny scissors, tiny ribbon and the full-sized mayor of Camas, Steve Hogan — at 5 p.m. June 5, during downtown Camas’ monthly First Friday Art Walk. And here’s another twist: Every tiny artwork in the mini-gallery is for sale, said Gallery 408 co-owner Kim Nickens.

“We’re starting with eight artists but we already have such interest from other artists in the community,” said Portland resident Nickens. “What you see from month to month in the gallery will change, with new art all the time.”

The tiny artworks — everything from sculptures and oil and acrylic paintings to pottery, paper art, encaustic and mixed media — have price tags ranging from $40 to $120. Those prices might fluctuate as the gallery owners gauge interest in the tiny gallery, Nickens said. As far as the mini-gallery itself, its quirky approachability fits right in with Gallery 408’s broad and eclectic mix of art, which ranges from $10 to $7,000. The gallery, which opened two years ago in the space formerly occupied by Camas Gallery, is making good on its tagline, Nickens said: “Art for all.”

The mini-gallery, designed by miniaturist Lara Blair and constructed by Nickens’ husband Eddie Nickens and gallery co-owner Michelle Purvis’ husband Jereme Bronson, measures just 2 feet by 1 foot and stands only 15 inches high. It’s boxier than the actual gallery, with teensy paintings hanging on three interior walls plus a huge front “window” through which giant eyes can peer at tiny artworks within. With a replica Gallery 408 sign on the front as well as a tiny hanging sign and sandwich board, the diminutive gallery is an unmistakable representation of the real thing.

“This particular project is bringing even more community focus to Gallery 408,” said Nickens, who contributed two pieces of her intricate curled paper art to the mini-gallery. “It’s creating more buzz about the larger gallery, but we’re hearing just as much excitement about this smaller gallery.”

Nickens said that Blair, whose small-scale works are displayed and sold inside the human-sized Gallery 408, is well-connected in the world of miniature art. In fact, Blair’s podcast, “Tiny Worlds, Big Stories,” is the reason the mini-gallery exists. Blair interviewed Portland artist Rachael Harms Mahlandt, the originator of PDX Dinorama, an Instagram account documenting the miniature interactive art displays and neighborhood exchanges (like little free libraries, but with toys, mugs or Christmas ornaments) in her yard and around Portland. Mahlandt later partnered with another Portlander, Grant Brady, to found the Worldwide Sidewalk Joy Project, which tracks miniature public art exhibits and exchanges around the world. The project got a big boost when pop star Kelly Clarkson interviewed Mahlandt on “The Kelly Clarkson Show.”

Blair and Mahlandt’s hourlong conversation on “Tiny Worlds, Big Stories” so inspired Blair that the two kept talking, even after they were off the air. Blair said she was energized by Mahlandt’s mission to bring unexpected joy to passersby in a world that is full of heaviness.

“I said, ‘I really want to do one of these things but I live out in the sticks,’ ” Blair said, “and she was like, ‘What about in your town?’ ”

Blair proposed the idea to Nickens and Purvis, who “ran with it,” Blair said. Blair advised the gallery owners and their husbands on size and dimensions, educated them about scale (the gallery is built to dollhouse specifications, Blair said, or 1/12 scale) and how to create a floor from wooden craft sticks. Blair also donated the tiny canvases, which Nickens and Purvis distributed to the artists. Blair made pedestals to support minute 3D artworks and she also contributed a tiny sculpture: a red heart covered in miniscule flowers. Last but not least, Blair contributed a custom-made stepladder (so that miniature gallery owners could hang the art, obviously), a dollhouse-sized toolbox purchased at Camas Antiques, a tiny gallery patron and a teensy-weensy dog.

“I told them how to do the wood floors. I gave them a box of Popsicle sticks. And then it just got bigger and bigger. ‘Let’s add a gallery sign! Let’s add skylights! Let’s put it on a pedestal!’ ” Blair said. “It’s a joy-bringer. How lovely that people can come and see this! But it’s also a way to bring people in the gallery.”

Oil painter Jan Patricio, whose landscapes depict startlingly blue Northwest lakes and snowy-white mountains, contributed four paintings: a miniature mountainscape, a tiny green tennis ball and two crimson roses. He said he’d never done any miniature work before but found that he really enjoyed the process.

“I’m kind of getting into it,” Patricio said. “I’m making two or three of these for myself. My work usually takes two months to complete, but I can finish this in a day or two.”

After the ribbon-cutting, Nickens said that the mini-gallery will be displayed just inside the big gallery, where it can easily be seen through the front window. A light will be trained on it after dark so that it will always be visible to passersby. On dry, sunny days, the mini-gallery might sometimes be moved outside where even more looky-loos can take a gander at the changing array of palm-sized paintings. It will also be added to the Worldwide Sidewalk Joy Project’s map of miniature art installations, so people from all over the region — and maybe all over the world — can come and visit it. In addition, it will occasionally become a traveling exhibit, Nickens said.

“We also plan to take it on the road with us,” Nickens said. “Michelle and I do a lot of art shows. We’ll be at the Vancouver Arts and Music Festival in August and the gallery will be on display with us there. We hope to show it throughout the Pacific Northwest.”