86-year-old retiree opens art gallery in Kennewick

By Laura Kostad for Senior Times

Joe Molvik of Kennewick is proving the old axiom you’re never too old to try something new.

At 86, he decided to open an art gallery showcasing his Norwegianinspired paintings, wood carvings and other woodwork.

The former custom metalworker hung up his trade in 2022 after over 50 years in business and turned his workshop and office into a studio and art gallery that is open by appointment.

Molvik has been painting “off and on” for over 50 years and picked up wood carving around 1993 when one of his sons bought him a basic set of carving tools and a block of wood.

The hobby stuck.

In addition to painting, Molvik enjoys figure carving, crafting picture frames and Norwegian bentwood containers called tine (pronounced like the name “Tina”) and assembling cutting boards, charcuterie boards and butcher blocks out of unexpectedly beautiful salvaged wood.

“I have been blessed by the Lord to have a compulsion to always be in the process of designing and building something,” he said. “Ever since I was little, I always had to be creative, I always had to create something.”

Molvik immigrated with his family to the United States from Norway at the age of 16 in 1954. His father and mother originally met in the upper Midwest in evangelical circles, before returning to Norway to start their family.

This time they began afresh in Scandinavian-influenced Seattle, where Molvik attended Ballard High School.

An art teacher recognized his inherent talent for painting and encouraged him and he had the opportunity to represent Ballard at a two-week seminar held at the Seattle Art Museum.

After high school, Molvik attended the University of Washington for a year to study industrial design. During that time he met his wife, Mary Ann,