Two large pieces of art were stolen from Matter Gallery in downtown Olympia late Friday or early Saturday by burglars who rappelled into the gallery from a skylight they broke on the roof.
Gallery owner Jo Gallaugher said she had turned off the main breaker because melting snow had been dripping through the ceiling onto the junction box. That gave the thieves a blanket of darkness in which to remove two enormous artworks: a piece that is 50 inches in diameter titled “Tribute to the concussed skier” by Jud Turner of Eugene, Ore., valued at $800, and “Horizons II” by Jerry Williamson of Olympia, which is 56 by 40 inches and valued at $600.
Gallaugher said the burglars had to work hard to get to the pieces because gallery workers had moved most of the art to the front of the gallery due to water leaking in the back.
She believes at least the ski piece was targeted.
“I have far more expensive pieces in the gallery,” she said Sunday. “The pieces they chose are the pieces that are most often admired by men in their 20s.”
She said there is no obvious route that the burglars took to the roof, but she said a number of people were on downtown roofs over the past few days, and one might have left a ladder accessible.
She said breaking the double-plexiglass skylight took considerable effort.
Gallaugher also believes the burglars considered taking two other pieces – a 6-foot coat rack artist Pat Tassoni fashioned as the Space Needle, and a piece by Diane Kurzyna – because they had been moved next to the back door.
Detectives with the Olympia Police Department are investigating the burglary, Sgt. Jim Partin said.
“They will review everything we have and see if we have any workable leads and then go from there,” he said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Olympia Police Department Detective Bureau at 360-753-8300 or Thurston County Crime Stoppers at 360-493-2222.
Staff writer Lisa Pemberton contributed to this story.
