The dream began when I was hired to work in a gallery in Cannon Beach around 2003. The owner had been a director in Carmel and trained many other directors. It was an incredible introduction into the art world. This experience forever added depth to the way I view the world. Viewing the scenes through an artist's lens, noticing shadows and reflections, the details that artists paint when creating their work, altered my view of the outside of the gallery.

 

A few years later, the economy suffered, the gallery closed. I worked for a few other owners in a few other cities, missing many of the artists that had been there. After a time, I started wanting to open my own gallery and talked about it while pouring wine or doing some other sort of job that came up in between. I kept the space and flexibility open for the gallery that I was dreaming about. I walked through Seaside and Astoria, imagining the gallery in various locations, and would inquire from time to time about the cost per square foot. One day, a sort of miracle happened. I was talking to the owner of a building about how much Seaside needed another venue and how great the space on the 2nd floor would work. We had talked previously about my dream of having a gallery too. He offered me a small space on the 1st floor to get started and that was the beginning of the Angi D Wildt Gallery. It opened in November of 2018. In September of 2020, I was able to move into another of his properties in Astoria, Oregon on the 10th St. It is a magical street with three other galleries, boutiques, and a busy quilt shop. It is really fun to be part of this neighborhood in Astoria where more people make it a destination for viewing art. ​On a side note, when I moved back to the North Coast, I vowed to get into sailing and open and art gallery and not to let anything distract from those paths. I started sailing that first year and then a few years later...