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b'July 4, 2022 \\u2014 The last year has not been kind to the arts, with classes just starting up in person again, patrons hesitant to attend performances and events at galleries, and not a lot of discretionary income available to most people. \\nBut on July 2, 2021, Medium Gallery in Ukiah\\u2019s Pear Tree shopping center opened its doors to the public \\u2014 and left them open so fresh air could circulate among the masked attendees. KZYX spoke with co-founder Chris Pugh a few hours before the opening of the first show last year, which was called Prologue. He recalled that he and co-founder Lillian Rubie were both stuck at home during the pandemic, \\u201cand we both just had a conversation one day abouthow this is the time to do something, because eventually the world would come out of the pandemic, and we wanted to be ready for that.\\u201d\\nThe pandemic isn\\u2019t over yet, but eight juried shows and a year later, Medium has sold $17,000 worth of art, all of it going to the more than 250 artists who have displayed their work there. The current show, ENcounter Culture, features a graffitied couch, work by established local artists like Spencer Brewer and Jean Avery North, and a collection of street-sign installations by the enigmatic graffiti artist known as the Velvet Bandit.\\nLast Friday afternoon, Pugh talked about how he, Rubie, and fellow co-founder Meredith Hudson have kept the gallery open for its first year. It\\u2019s not a mystery. \\u201cWe do our best to keep our expenses low, and we volunteer as much time as we have. A lot of evenings and weekends, putting in a lot of sweat equity.\\u201d\\nHudson, who worked on laying down the floor when the gallery moved in, knows a lot about sweat equity, though she said, \\u201cIt might be better put as soft-tissue equity at this point. My knees are still recovering. But I definitely was not the only person who put in the floor. We all worked together to rip out old carpet tiles, and really transform the space from the previous state that it was in, which was an old Radio Shack. It was pretty musty\\u2026some very generous friends came in and also donated their knees to the project.\\u201d\\nRubie said she knew from the beginning, when people had a hard time leaving the gallery, that \\u201cwe were on to something\\u2026people enjoyed being here, people enjoyed creating here. And then seeing people make their first sale has been really momentous. And people purchase their first piece of art. Invest in an artist for the first time. That has been for all of us really the most touching part of this whole experience.\\u201d\\nHudson said the practical matter of selling the art is a major focus, though the gallery doesn\\u2019t take a commission or charge entry fees. Over the last year, artists have sold their work at prices ranging from ten to $1,500. \\u201cA good quarter of those were children, youth under eighteen,\\u201d she said. \\u201cA lot of the artists who bring their art to us are people who have never shown in a gallery before, people who haven\\u2019t had the opportunity to submit work to a show that didn\\u2019t have an entry fee, that didn\\u2019t take a commission, that made selling their artwork unsustainable. They\\u2019ve instead reached out to sell their work through Etsy, or other non-local sources. And I think that this has provided a way for artists to sell their work locally.\\u201d\\nRubie recalled a successful moment for one contributor to the most recent show, where all the artists were kids. \\u201cThere was a really spectacular piece in the show by an eleven-year-old,\\u201d she recalled. \\u201cAnd it was for sale for 25 dollars. But on our opening night, there was a gentleman who was here, who was really moved by the piece. He couldn\\u2019t believe that an eleven-year-old created it on the one hand, and he also couldn\\u2019t believe that they had marked it at 25 dollars. And when he came to the front desk and wanted to purchase it, he said, I want to buy this piece, but I don\\u2019t want to pay 25 dollars, I want to pay 100 dollars. I want her to know that it\\u2019s worth that. And that was just really amazing.\\u201d\\nThat show was memorable for Pugh, as well. He recalled that during the show, the gallery set out a table where visitors could make art. Two men came by and drew for about an hour, then showed Pugh what they had made, which was an elaborate drawing of a lion. But, \\u201cthey didn\\u2019t speak English, and I didn\\u2019t speak Spanish, so we couldn\\u2019t really talk about their piece,\\u201d Pugh said. \\u201cThen one of them pulled out their phone, and we had a conversation through a translation app about the drawing that they had made, and they were asking questions about the gallery. They wanted to know if it was a school, or some kind of project\\u2026so I explained to them that it was a show that was a kids\\u2019 show, but we\\u2019re open to everybody\\u2026it was great to have people come in and just make art. That\\u2019s a thing that we do here. Pretty much every show, we have a place where people can make art, as well as experience art.\\u201d \\n\\nMedium Gallery is in the Pear Tree shopping center in Ukiah, next door to Rod\\u2019s Shoes. It is open Friday 12-8, Saturday 12-6, and Sunday 12-4.'