From lumber yard to art gallery

Just how does a lumberyard owner come to be the proprietor of an art gallery?

"Well, it just sort of fell together," said proprietor Kevin Langdon. "Dave Elpi of Sisters Forest Products is someone I've known and worked with for years. He came to me one day and said: 'Hey, I know this guy who carves totem poles and stuff. Maybe you could stick some out here and sell them.'"

The "guy" Elpi was referring to was Sisters sculptor, Dayton Lanphear - and that's how Dry Canyon Lumber gave birth to Dry Canyon Gallery. Lanphear recalls how the idea germinated and took root last fall:

"A logger friend of mine, Dave Elpi, suggested that Kevin had unfinished space and thought he could turn it into an art gallery. Next thing I knew, Kevin was selling some of my things."

Last week, those unfinished spaces were looking a lot more finished, and the smell of fresh paint hung in the air. The gallery itself is comprised of a quaint labyrinth of rooms adjacent to the lumberyard office.

"We haven't even had an official opening, and we've sold some things already," Langdon said.

The "official" opening is happening this week, as Lanphear begins sculpting a 15-foot-tall redwood bear (See "Sisters sculptor bears monumental task," The Nugget, March 19, page 20).

Langdon hopes that interest in Lanphear's giant bear will help put Dry Canyon Gallery on the map. The bear is already beginning to take shape in the gallery's parking lot just off Highway 126 on the way to Redmond.

Some of Lanphear's sculptures are now on display at the new gallery, and more are on the way. Lanphear emphasizes, however, that it's not just about him.

"We're welcoming other artists, too, who would like to display their work here. We're looking for all kinds of Western, rustic and wildlife art," he said.

Langdon has been at the site for the last 14 years but recently assumed ownership about a year-and-a-half ago. Prior to coming to Dry Canyon, he was foreman at a mill in Eugene that manufactured cedar siding and decking. Shortly after moving to Sisters, he met Dave Elpi.

"I needed some juniper posts and started buying from Dave 12 to 13 years ago," he said. "We've done business from time to time ever since. Then, shortly after I took over this place, he commented that he needed a log storage site for his business. I told him I had extra space here; and a couple of weeks later he showed up with a bunch of logs."

The rest is history. Well, sort of. Things are still developing at Dry Canyon. Ever since Elpi brought Langdon and Lanphear together, the synergy of the trio continues to build on itself.

"We couldn't have explored this project without the resources here at this site," Lanphear said - a site that includes a lumberyard, log yard, firewood distribution center and, now, an art gallery.

Dry Canyon Gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is located on Highway 126 about six miles east of town past Fryrear Road and just before the highway drops down into Dry Canyon.