The Spring Gallery Walk is generally a time for art lovers to peruse the latest offerings in their favorite galleries while they socialize.
But on Friday, the spring walk resulted in some serious damage at Sorrel Sky Gallery.
“It’s between $5,000 and $10,000,” gallery owner Shanan Campbell Wells said. “We just looked at the video surveillance, and it was three girls one of my staff members spoke with earlier. They said something about studying archaeology at Fort Lewis (College).”
The damage was caused by a spill of red wine that seriously damaged a painting as well as a wall.
“It’s not clear on the video whether it was an accident or not,” Wells said. “There’s no way they didn’t realize they did it.”
Not being told about the spill immediately made the damage caused by the acid in the wine much more severe, she said.
Wells declined to name the artist, saying she just couldn’t tell one of her artists their work had been destroyed.
“I’ll just have to send a check,” she said. “I’m really disappointed. We open our doors to thousands of people every year, and usually people are really respectful.”
She’s also surprised that the three young women didn’t seem to realize the gallery would have video surveillance.
“I haven’t decided what to do, whether I call the police or not,” Wells said. “But it’s really in poor taste, really tacky, to do something like this and just walk away.”
abutler@durangoherald.com
