A R T S & L E I S U R E \\
MCLAUCHLANS SAIL INTO FREDERICK to open contemporary art gallery BY LAUREN LAROCCA
Bill and Staci McLauchlan were nomadic visitors to Frederick’s art scene for several years before they became a steady presence in it. The couple, married for some 33 years, opened a contemporary art gallery, District Arts, on North Market Street in the spring, deciding to settle in Frederick after living on a boat for 12 years and frequenting dozens of arts festivals along the East Coast. Their story really starts in 2002, when, after a previous move from Cincinnati to Southern Maryland, they decided they’d take their love of living near the water one step further by living on the water. They sold everything, bought a boat, and lived on it, traveling from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida and the Bahamas during the winter and as far north as Canada. A few years into their boat life, they started doing art shows to supplement their income. “I’d always been a quilter, and I thought we could start selling quilts and fabric pieces,” Staci said. Bill started creating digital images of her fabric pieces, transforming the artwork into digitally manipulated prints, so each piece is created by both of them. While living on the boat, they did 20 to 25 street festivals and art shows each year, one of which was the annual Frederick Festival of the Arts. When they started looking for a place to settle down, Frederick was at the top of their list. “Every year that we came here to the festival, we kept saying to each other what a cool place it is,” Bill said. “We absolutely love it here.” “Even before we were thinking about settling down, we loved it here,” Staci added. “Every time we came, it just felt like home.” They love the walkability, the thriving downtown restaurants and events, and of course the arts scene, which they’re now helping to shape. 46
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District Arts was two years in the making, and it opened to much fanfare, including a ribbon cutting with Mayor Michael O’Connor and an opening reception and subsequent First Saturday that were mobbed with curious onlookers.
