‘Year of the Horse’
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 month AGO
From left: Up Town Art Gallery owners Judy Kalin and Leanne Hickman visit with Maxine Smith and her husband, cowboy poet Paul Smith, at the opening of the gallery’s equine-themed exhibition, “Year of the Horse,” Friday.
JOEL MARTIN/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Kim Melbye, left, and Terry Meyers look over the displays at Up Town Art Gallery’s “Year of the Horse” show Friday.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | July 15, 2026 3:00 AM
MOSES LAKE — According to the Chinese zodiac, 2026 (and a little bit of 2027) is the year of the horse. That was a good reason, decided the owners of Up Town Art Gallery in Moses Lake, to hold a special art show centered around the magnificent creatures.
“We’ve got, I don’t know how many local artists,” said Judy Kalin, who co-owns Up Town Art Gallery with Leanne Hickman. “I think there are 10 or 12 of us.”
The equine theme took on a lot of forms: oils, watercolors, acrylics, charcoal and Hickman’s trademark painted feathers. There were rope baskets made from lariats, wooden horse sculptures and a stuffed unicorn as well.
The exhibit opening offered refreshments, karaoke and cowboy poetry by Paul Smith, who ranched in Nebraska for 30 years, and then served as a pastor for 22 years, he said. He hadn’t read his cowboy poetry in public for more than two decades, he said, but his wife Maxine volunteered him for the exhibit opening.
“We happened to be over at Michael’s (Market and Bistro) having a bite to eat, and Maxine wanted to come over here and have a look-see,” Smith said. “They were talking about this thing, and (Kalin) wanted to know if she knew a cowboy poet around here. And (Maxine) pointed and said, ‘Well, I think there’s one right here.’”
“I came over to check out the art work because I have an art degree, painting and drawing,” she said. “I was like, ‘Oh, look there’s an art gallery!’ So, I had to go in and meet the ladies. We both got to talking with them and lo and behold, we have a few ranchers in the midst of us, so they swapped stories and talked about horses.”
Up Town Art Gallery opened about a year ago and features a themed show like “The Year of the Horse” once a month, Kalin said. It’s been a learning curve, she said, but the exhibitions ae growing every time.
“We put out our announcements, and we get … more people from the surrounding areas like Wenatchee and Tri-Cities,” she said.
Up Town Art Gallery
301 W Broadway Ave. Ste A, Moses Lake
509-760-1468
Wednesday-Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Kim Melbye, left, and Terry Meyers look over the displays at Up Town Art Gallery’s “Year of the Horse” show Friday.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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