ART LOVERS CAMP OUT FOR WEEMS SALE
Art gallery offers some works that usually sell for thousands of dollars
Customers can get a painting worth thousands for just $285 at gallery’s annual ‘thank you’ sale.
Customers lined the concrete sidewalk to spend the night in front of Weems Gallery in northeast Albuquerque to nab a sales spot on Friday.
Today marks the gallery’s annual $285 sale, when fans can spend that dollar amount on artwork normally priced at thousands of dollars.
The event is now in its 16th year — in a much more expanded space near Montgomery and Louisiana — and it has always sold at least 100 pieces of work from about 50 artists whose work Weems represents and who agreed to take part.
The sale includes such artists as B.C. Nowlin, whose painting originally brought $6,300, said Nola Arroyo, the gallery’s administrative assistant.
“We have a whole room filled with art,” Arroyo said.
The works range from painting to sculpture, jewelry and glass.
The artists include Dee Sanchez, Nancy Young, Miguel Peralta, Guilloume, Dan Stouffer and Ed Wyatt, among others.
The gallery at 7200 Montgomery NE opens at 9 a.m. today.
“It’s kind of a tradition here,” Arroyo said. “It’s basically a ‘thank you’ to our loyal customers who have the opportunity to add big pieces to their collection.”
Typically, the line will swell to 70-80 people and snake west around the Petsense store, she said.
“We give them numbers,” Arroyo continued. “We allow the first 30 to come in and chose one piece. Once everyone in line has gone through, it’s open. They started lining up Wednesday morning. They sleep in the chairs.”