A new art gallery is opening Saturday in Port Townsend.

Mary O’Shaughnessy’s Aurora Loop Gallery+Studio will host its grand opening from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 7 at 971 Aurora Loop. The public is invited for food, drinks, music, and a whimsical show of “The Exquisite Corpse,” a collaborative project involving 46 local artists.

The gallery, with heated polished concrete floors, white walls, and clerestory windows, is adjacent to O’Shaughnessy’s art studio and is located in the business park off Sims Way. Neighbors Lila’s Kitchen will cater the Jan. 7 event, with beer from Discovery Bay Brewery, and wine and an Admiralty Distillery specialty cocktail served by Lila’s Bar Car, a converted two-horse trailer. Kevin Mason will be crooning his signature Sinatra cocktail hour songs.

“The Exquisite Corpse” is a game the surrealists played in the 1930s with a folded piece of paper. One artist would paint or draw a head, fold the paper; next the torso, who then folds it and passes it on to another artist for legs. The paper is then unfolded to reveal the work.

“I’m starting with this because it’s fun,” said O’Shaughnessy, “and we need more fun in our life.”

All proceeds go to the participating artists.

O’Shaughnessy plans to host 12 shows a year out of the gallery.

The gallery will not store or ship work but be a showcase and sales room for art curated by individual curators, or jurying.

The next show in February — “What’s That Thing Called Love?” — will be juried by O’Shaughnessy.

“There is such a treasure-trove of artists on the North Olympic Peninsula, and such a diversity of talent in this area,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I felt we needed another venue for their work.”

The gallery will be open  from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday or by appointment. O’Shaughnessy can be reached at 773–227-6757 or auroraloopgallery@gmail.com.