WALK Gallery taking a new path

The WALK Gallery is facing a bend in the road.

Started in 2009 as a volunteer organization, it saw a way to put empty storefronts to good use.

By creating a mobile gallery that exhibits art in buildings up for lease, the volunteers connected artists and art aficionados in a new way.

This was not about money exchanging hands but about the community of art and how it enriches a place.

Quickly approaching their one-year anniversary, WALK Gallery is rethinking its larger purpose.

"I believe WALK has a whole lot more potential that we haven't tapped. It has endless possibilities," says Rena Lasch, one of the founding members of the gallery and the organization's leader. "Partnering with other organizations, using the medium of art to get a message across, we're only limited by imagination."

The initial vision was in itself imaginative: Put art in vacant buildings so that instead of walking into a gallery, the gallery is the street itself and the interaction of the art and the street creates a more vibrant community.

Visibility for local artists, increased visual appeal, interest on the street and a means to enhance available space all were part of the outcome. But after multiple shows, WALK's volunteer board now sees a greater purpose and a way to organize their themes.

Beginning last fall, the gallery started collaborating with "like-minded organizations," where as Lasch puts it, "Art acts as the hub of the wheel."

Their first outing was with the Charleston Peace One Day organization, and regional artists contributed to "Peace: What a Day of Peace Means," an exhibit at 372 King Street (formerly Millennium Music) that coincided with the peace organization's festival.

"It was really great to collaborate because we got a lot of feedback from the street," says Charleston Peace One Day Program Director Beth Wendt.

In addition to the response, she adds, the organization gained exposure and community and artistic connections, which she feels is very worthwhile for her young organization. The two are planning another collaboration later this year with an even more specific peace theme.

And the collaborations continue.

Starting Feb. 11, "How Much is That Doggie in the Window?" is a partnership with the Charleston Animal Society (CAS) to raise awareness of adoptable pets in the Lowcountry.

Artists donated work that will be exhibited at 372 and 501 King St., then given to the CAS to be auctioned.

"Through art, WALK starts a dialogue between people," says Christina Bailey, the Web administrator for the gallery and an active volunteer. "This isn't just an ad, a business just trying to sell you something."

Since its first show, WALK's mobile exhibitions have been exclusively on the peninsula. Although Bailey and the other volunteers would be open to additional venues in other parts of the Lowcountry, she says that the King Street proximity has to do with lack of manpower rather than exclusion.

"Although we have had many people contribute, we have a core group of about four people, in addition to an intern. And we're always on the lookout for people who are interested in participating in the organization," she says.

The next show, "Juxtapositions," is tentatively scheduled for March 5. In it, artists will respond to poets and vice versa.

The conversation across mediums is important to WALK's mission as they move forward, the show a metaphor for crossing boundaries, the group says.

"We see these (vacant) windows as windows of opportunity," Lasch says.