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Rie Muñoz Gallery closes after nearly 50 years, artist’s son says it's time ‘to do something different’
Works by one of Juneau’s most famous painters will remain available online and at Annie Kaill's
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
Rie Muñoz Gallery has closed after 49 years at various Juneau locations, but the artist’s watercolors and other creations will remain available online and at a downtown gallery that has long sold her works, her son said Monday.
The last retail sale at the gallery was Oct. 31, said Juan Muñoz, owner of the gallery that sold his mother’s paintings as well as ceramics by her granddaughter Mercedes Muñoz. He said he began the packing process a year ago.
"I just kind of had an ‘aha’ moment about two years ago, and just said, ‘I'm still mobile. I'm 70 years old, but I'm still doing great, very healthy, and it just seemed like the right thing to do to do something different."
There are no plans for a grand farewell, although packing everything at the gallery will take some weeks, Juan Muñoz said. He said his mother’s works will still be available online for the foreseeable future, as well as at Annie Kaill's gallery and gift shop downtown.
Rie Muñoz, who was born in the Los Angeles area and spent much of her youth in Holland, "arrived in Juneau a tourist aboard a steamship in 1951 but quickly settled in as a resident," according to a Juneau Empire obituary after she died in April 2015. She was a writer and cartoonist for the Empire, a teacher in King Island, and worked as a museum curator before becoming a full-time artist in 1972.
She opened her first gallery in 1977 in the Valentine Building, according to her son. The gallery changed location "every once in (a) while" until 1995 when it moved to its current location across from the Nugget Mall at 2101 Jordan Ave.
Most of her paintings are watercolors, but her works also include other forms such as oil and sketches, and using artistic mediums such as ceramics. In an official bio for her gallery published in 2010, Muñoz wrote, "My artwork can best be described as expressionism."
"The term applies to work that rejects camera snapshot realism, and instead, expresses emotion by distortion and strong colors," she wrote. "My paintings reflect an interest in the day-to-day activities of Alaskans such as fishing, berry picking, children at play, crabbing, and whaling. I am also fascinated with the legends of Alaska's Native people. While I find much to paint around Juneau, most of my material comes from sketching trips taken to the far corners of Alaska."
Juan Muñoz said during the packing process he’s encountering "generations of wonderful items that my mom had collected."
"I even had diaries from her mother in Dutch," he said. "And my mom used to go to Canada and collect all these great soapstone carvings and other pieces of art, Athabascan work and baskets. So there's a lot of stuff that a lot of wonderful stuff that we brought to our house."
About a hundred or so items were sold at an auction in Anchorage in May, but "that was just a small part of her artwork and some of her collections and photos," he added.
"Our house is crammed pretty tight, full of lovely artifacts at my daughter's house. We’ve got lots of artwork on the wall. We’ve got about 100 originals left, so we have them all over the place."
Other items include letters written by his mother, pottery and tapestries with her artwork, a canvas rug she made, sculptures, sketchbooks and many other belongings, Juan Muñoz said.
"Some of her personal furniture like her rocking chair, the cane she used to walk around in, baskets that she would carry — you'd see her at the grocery store with her basket," he said. "She has this old stove that she got in Heidelberg, Germany, that I'm trying to figure out what to do with."
Some items, such as sketchbooks and original works, have been donated to the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, Juan Muñoz said.
He said once the gallery is closed that he and his wife — Cathy Muñoz, who is retiring next month after a long career on local and state government — plan to spend time at a home they have in Tenakee Springs, as well as with family in and beyond Juneau. He said he started helping his mother out with her art business when he was about 10 years old, so the final weeks of packing up the gallery will add to those memories.
"I've got a lot of fun things to do yet and it's been loads of fun being at the gallery," he said. "Talk about a dream job, just being around all this great artwork."
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or 907-957-2306.
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