Allen and Mary Dee Dodge
Allen and Mary Dee Dodge met and married while
attending the Kansas City Art Institute. Mary Dee
graduated with a background in ceramics and Allen in
painting and sculpture. They began collaborating in their
work and have continued to do so, sharing art as their
livelihood.
In 1974, the couple moved to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho,
creating commissioned pieces for World’s Fair, Expo 74 in
Spokane, Washington. Following that, they became a part
of the restoration team working on the historic Cataldo
Mission in northern Idaho, dyeing fabrics, recreating
wallpapers and tinwork. During this period, they had a solo show of their soft sculptures at
the Second City Gallery in Spokane and a solo show at the Civic Theater of Spokane. They
also did workshops around eastern Washington for Independent School District 101.
Allen began cartooning and was published in various
national magazines. This led to a job doing layout
and artwork for The Nickel’s Worth in Coeur d’Alene,
where he created a weekly cartoon strip as well as spot
drawings. Mary Dee returned to making functional,
colorful, hand painted pottery, selling her work from her
studio, exhibiting at regional art fairs and was a featured
artist at Private Stock Gallery in Kansas City.
In 1985, the couple started a screenprinting company
in Coeur d’Alene called Local Color. They designed and
produced highly decorated shirts and fabric pieces,
including a line of hand dyed and printed ladies dresses
of Mary Dee’s design – Mary Dee Fun To Wear - which
was marketed nationally.
In 2005, they returned to studio work, collaborating on
brightly painted whimsical wood sculpture. At that time
they created pieces for the Coeur d’Alene Public Library,
The Hayden Library, The Community Library in Ketchum,
Idaho and many private collections.
In 2007, Allen worked with Spokane artist
Harold Balazs, building a sculpture in
memory of their friend Patrick Flammia.
Harold shared with them a wealth of
technical information, encouraging the
couple to experiment in areas new to them,
inviting them to come from time to time to
work in his shop. This led to Allen’s working
in steel and Mary Dee’s interest in vitreous
enamel. It is Harold that they credit with
the inspiration and encouragement for their
current work, which includes large enamels
by Mary Dee and a wide variety of steel
sculpture by Allen.
In addition to regional art fairs and shows
at The Art Spirit Gallery in Coeur d’Alene,
Allen and Mary Dee have created public
art in North Idaho including bicycle racks
and park benches in Coeur d’Alene and
Lewiston, large murals, a collaborative
round-a-bout sculpture in Coeur d’Alene,
a series of weathered steel sculptures
representing the life forms in a drop of city
wastewater, located at the Coeur d’Alene
Wastewater Treatment Plant and a series
of large enamel on welded steel animal
sculptures at the Spokane Service Center.
They are currently working on what comes next…