by Kirby Lindsay, posted 23 January 2012
Through the end of January, shoppers will find a storewide moving sale going on at Frank & Dunya – one of Fremont’s most iconic shops. Owner Emiliya Lane has decided to move the business on-line, and close the Fremont store on January 31st. However, this Saturday, January 28th, from 4p on, she invites friends, fans and familiar Fremont faces to come celebrate this move with her, and Frank & Dunya – even if the news may make Fremont faces a bit long.
A Change in Focus
For years, Lane admitted, she has repeatedly told herself, “I can’t fail my artists.” Keeping the store open has been difficult – “overhead for small businesses is impossible,” Lane said, “whoever does it today is a hero,” – as the economy sunk, and she slimmed down the store from five employees to none, she still slogged along, fearful of failing the 200+ artists that sell in her shop.
Yet, Lane also struggled through personal tragedy – “My husband passed away a year and a half ago,” she explained. Chris Lane died in April 2010. Initially, with the help of employees and friends, she kept the store open. “It was survival,” she said.
Then, time passed, “one day I woke up and realized I’m responsible for myself,” she said, “plus my art, and my passion.” An artist long before she became a shop owner (Lane owned the store Casita, on Capitol Hill, when she purchased Frank & Dunya in 2005,) she has long found her passion in painting. This month, the Frank & Dunya gallery displays her many of her works, all accomplished in 2011.
As she found renewed joy in painting, “it felt like a tidal wave,” she said, like she’d unlocked the genie. She realized, “I was in the shadow of all the artists I represent.” Lane discovered she had downplayed her own art, in deference to the artists that sell at Frank & Dunya.
An Institution Of Artisans, and Art
“Everyone knows Frank & Dunya,” Lane observed, “It’s an institution.” Mary Jane Shirakawa and Judy Carter launched the store in 1989, naming it after their two dogs – Dunya and Frank. The namesakes passed away some time ago but glazed, paper sculptures of them still stand sentinel over the store, and in the window among the art and crafts.
“Fine and folk art,” Lane described the products she sells. She seeks high-quality items, visually and/or aesthetically pleasing, with humor and/or warmth, “something daring, that no one else has. That’s what folk art is about.” Among the outrageous, odd, unique and unusual art Lane offers exist some practical, several precious, and a few utterly ugly items. For instance, check out the slugs. Created by Randy Silver, Lane admitted she pulled them from the shelf when she first started at the store, until customers specifically asked for more of the frightful creatures which make great gifts and/or conversation pieces.
Every one of these items, and artists, will still be accessible – as Frank & Dunya goes on-line. “Something between Amazon and Etsy,” Lane plans. “Etsy is too clean, minimalistic,” she observed, “We are wild, daring, funky!”
Frank & Dunya.com will sell jewelry, glass, ceramics, textiles, books, and cards, just like the storefront – only more because physical space will no longer limit the selection. “For a small fee,” Lane explained, “artists will have their own shop,” on the site. A jury process will choose new artists, specifically ones from the Northwest – Washington, Oregon and some of California. Plus, “a section for Fremont art, and art related to Fremont,” Lane promised, “The place where we are from.”
A Warm Welcome
Lane arrived in Seattle, from Russia, twelve years ago with her husband, Chris. “As soon as I came to Seattle, my husband brought me [to Fremont,]” she recalled. She felt instantly welcomed when she saw the statue of Lenin, and the store that carried – even then – works by local Russian-American artists with its familiar name (‘Dunya’ is a woman’s name in Russia.) “When they decided to sell,” she recalled, she instantly felt, ‘I want it!’ “That was a passion,” she reflected.
“I knew the structure of retail,” she explained, as the first few years she simultaneously operated a Mexican imports store. She doesn’t recall any big surprises since taking over the business. “The biggest surprise was the economy,” she observed. “I’ve been very lucky. People have been very kind,” and Lane swears, “I never had a bad experience with anyone.”
What is Next? What is Not!
On January 28th, Lane wants to hold a “big party,” to say farewell to Fremont, and hello to the on-line world. She hopes to welcome customers – present and past – patrons, artists, and Fremonsters. “I’m going to miss people,” she said about closing the store, “that connection…”
Still, “we’re not going anywhere,” she insisted. Frank & Dunya will still exist, just not in a traditional brick & mortar storefront on Fremont Avenue. Expect to see the Frank & Dunya booth at more trade shows, the Northwest Art Alliance Craft Show, and perhaps the Bellevue Festival of the Arts. “It’s all possible,” she said, “I have lots of energy. It’s going to give me more energy. It’s going to give me more time.” Lane visualizes the move freeing her up. “People ask me what I’m going to do,” she said smiling, “You just ask what I’m not going to do!”
Come bid Emiliya Lane bon voyage, and pick up a few discounted art items. “It’s not a liquidation sale,” she pointed out, but shoppers can expect to find good deals. As for the store’s name sakes, the papier-mâché Frank & Dunya, “I’m keeping them,” Lane stated with some ferocity, “I’m taking them with me. That’s our identity. That’s our soul.”
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©2012 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.