If you ever visited the Harris Avenue Cafe or The Old Independent Coffeehouse in Fairhaven’s Terminal Building, you likely noticed paintings by local artists on the walls.
That was true Dec. 16, the night the Terminal Building went up in flames.
Megan Velthuizen, a Whatcom County painter, lost all 14 of her paintings that were hanging in the Harris Avenue Cafe. Velthuizen said the collection took six or seven years to complete.
The paintings were mostly acrylic and oil paintings of landscapes. She installed them in the cafe on Dec. 1.
Velthuizen said she’s still shocked by the loss.
“It sort of hits you in waves, of like, ‘Oh my gosh, that was so many hours and so much time,’” she said. “Each of those paintings has different memories and a lot of them were paintings of the places I grew up or places that mean a lot to me.”
She didn’t have insurance on any of her paintings.
“They’re like little memories, so then having them be lost is pretty heartbreaking,” she said.
Brian Scott Simpson, a local artist, was luckier. His paintings were on display at the time of the fire in The Old Independent Coffeehouse, but three of the four paintings were returned to him undamaged by helpful firefighters.
Simpson said this was the second or third time he had his paintings in The Old Independent and said he had known cafe owner Nate Breaux for a few years.
“It was wonderful of him because for the artists, any piece sold, they could keep 100 percent of the money,” he said, adding that’s not typical. Velthuizen confirmed Breaux allowed artists to keep the full revenue.
Velthuizen said she’s trying to “hold space” for the loss of her collection. She’s tried a couple of times to paint since the fire, but said she feels almost fearful to do so, as if the paintings might be lost again.
Velthuizen is accepting donations through Venmo, which she said will be used for supplies to begin to rebuild her collection.
“I do feel really grateful for all of the people who already supported and reached out,” she said. “Our community is pretty amazing, and I knew that, but I know it on a different level now.”
The cause of the fire is still being investigated. On Tuesday, Dec. 26, workers retrieved a body from the site. Officials have yet to identify the person, but Breaux’s family, who said he was likely in the building when the fire started, held a small ceremony after the body was recovered to thank the workers for their efforts and to honor Breaux’s life.
Fundraisers for others impacted by the fire have raised thousands of dollars.
