MCLauchlans Sail into Frederick to Open Contemporary Art Gallery

ARTS & LEISURE \\

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.

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.

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The building has a modern, industrial chic aesthetic, with an open ceiling and ductwork. Many people have commented to the McLauchlans that being there makes them feel like they’re in New York City.

The space is attached to New Spire Arts (the former Cultural Arts Center building) but unaffiliated with it. That said, the McLauchlans hope to occasionally open their interior doors, which flow into a hallway that connects the gallery to the rest of the building, when other arts events are happening, fostering a synergy between visual and performing arts.

When it came time to find artists for the space, the McLauchlans had more than enough to choose from, as they’d made connections with hundreds of artists over the years at festivals.

“We thought we’d ask them if they’d be interested in showing work at our gallery,” Staci said. “But then we thought, wait. We want to have a strong local presence as well.”

More than 30 artists are represented by District Arts, and roughly a third of them are based in Frederick County, another third regional, another third national.

“A number of them have a national reputation, so for them to make a commitment to us is really appreciated,” Bill said.

Although all the work is contemporary art, its diversity of mediums and styles is striking: glass, wood, paintings and sculptures fill the space. A variety of work by each artist is thoughtfully displayed in a small area all its own.

The McLauchlans also use movable walls, so they can also hold monthly exhibits in the space without having to remove any of the art by the artists they represent. The exhibits will alternate between solo exhibits and themed group exhibits.

When people ask the couple why they started an art gallery instead of retiring and traveling, they say, “We already did that. For 12 years.”

As Staci puts it, “This gallery is a way of staying vibrant and engaged, and we’re having a blast.”

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District Arts 15 N. Market St., Frederick 301-695-4050 districtarts.com

Summer 2019 // FREDERICK COUNTY GUIDE 47