Doing a show in a small town like soap lake has its own unigue offerings. for one thing, people do not have tons of art to look at on a regular basis. So they like you and are appreciative. the second thing is that they are in a very small town so everyone knows everyone and they will spread the word pretty fast when something is going on. third is they go all out for an opening with more bells and whistles than a usual opening.
That said it is hard for a gallery to even exist in a tiny town and survive. It is hard to survive in a big town too but with less to people to draw from it is even harder. I would say that The Soap Lake Art Museum is a gutsy, innovative revolutionary, monumental shocking idea for a town of 1700. Nevertheless, it prevails with lots of interesting and groundbreaking shows. One person even drove all the way from Seattle to go to the last show I had there because he couldn’t believe a town had that much courage. Brent Blake is the owner of the gallery and he built it from an old bank.
Does a small town in the poorest part of Washington buy art? Yes they do. It just shows that you cannot always rely on what makes sense and sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. no matter where it is. no matter what it is.