A business that runs like a co-op has been helping showcase Sunshine Coast artists in the Trail Bay Mall for more than twelve years. Doris Biddle, an artist herself, runs the equitable and cheerful Coastal Art Gallery with the kind of consideration that comes from understanding the challenges of putting one’s work out there:
“All the artists have a 4- or 8-ft space where they hang their own work. The spaces are rotated every four months to give everyone a fair chance to be in a more favourable spot. However, I have found that the space doesn’t really matter. If someone likes a certain artist, they buy that art regardless what space in the gallery you have at that time. All the artists pay a small fee for the space and a very low commission on their sales. The gallery really is a service to the artists on the Sunshine Coast.”
In the gallery you’ll see Biddle’s own work, which echoes her cheerful pragmatism: bold, vibrant flowers, playful portraits and animals, landscapes with tenderly heightened colour, an exuberant and fearless range of subject matter. One senses an underlying commitment to beauty and joy. These days that takes some dedication.
Coastal Art Gallery is a terrific one-stop place to see a high-quality sampling of artwork by well-known and established artists as well as some newer names. Most of the art pieces on display are paintings (about eighty percent), interspersed with textile art, photography and sculpture. Biddle says visitors to the gallery, whether they are tourists or locals, are regularly pleased.
“People on the Coast seem to appreciate art more than on the mainland. Maybe moving to a beautiful location stimulates that. And local artists’ work is appreciated instead of generic mass-produced items from other countries.”
