We Adore the Macfarlane Artist Studio!
By Billie Swalla, Robbie Macfarlane, and Pog Summers
The Macfarlane Artist Studio today, with its new facade and glass doors. Photo: Kathleen Ballard.
The Macfarlane Artist Studio has emerged through the joint efforts of Arthur Whiteley, Dennis Willows and Robbie Macfarlane over the past ten years. Arthur and Dennis, like many scientists, always had a strong interest in art, artists, and the creative process. Robbie had been on the museum board at Cal Tech when there was a museum building on campus, and hoped to create a similar space at FHL.
The idea was to create an FHL space where artists in residence at the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center (HRWC) could pursue their art. The Center's shining new cottages and main building were not suitable for messy works of art. Dennis suggested that the somewhat-abandoned caretaker’s garage, situated on the Labs' main road halfway between the Whiteley Center and the Commons, might be a good option. Arthur and Robbie agreed, and a list of changes was drawn up and refurbishing began. Robbie provided the funds to carry it out, and Arthur and Dennis oversaw the project. During the years when the garage was evolving into a studio, it was used by quite a number of artists. Many offered suggestions for steps that could be taken to make the studio more artist-friendly, and those suggestions were heeded. Recently with FHL Director Billie Swalla's help, the final item on the long list (the doors) was completed. Today it has the ease of an adjacent parking area, light penetrating through skylights and doors, chairs, a table, easels, and a propane stove for cold mornings. The painted concrete floor deals with the reality that making art can be messy, but the atmosphere is cheery and soothing — just the thing to stimulate creativity.
A painting by Pog Summers.
Pog Summers, an artist who has used the Macfarlane Artist Studio for painting and has donated one of her paintings to the Whiteley Center, had this to say:
The Macfarlane studio is in the perfect setting to work, with ferries rolling by heading for or leaving Friday Harbor. I have been painting the ferries for a few years now. The space is big enough for me to set up two portable half-easels so I can work on two paintings at the same time — or more. I am often there in December and the stove keeps the place perfectly warm, and the light beaming in from the new glass doors is great. I work there for hours at a time each day, and get a lot of work done. I am never interrupted by anyone. Macfarlane is the quintessential place for a painter to work. It is spare and tidy with tables so I have lots of space to spread out all my stuff: drawings, notes, and partially finished work. I have loved it each time I’ve had the chance to work there.
Pog Summers' grandson observing her work in the Studio. Photo: Pog Summers.
The Macfarlane Artist Studio is proving to be a valuable adjunct to the Whiteley Center. The studio is now supported by an endowment which covers maintenance and similar costs. It is a lovely place for creativity, making it possible for visual artists to join the many scientists and writers who have the good fortune of being in residence at the Whiteley Center. This is exactly what Arthur Whiteley had in mind so many years ago when he established the Helen Riaboff Whiteley Center in honor of his distinguished wife. Please help foster Arthur’s vision by supporting a Whiteley Center Fellow or an artist working in the Macfarlane Art Studio. Thank you!
