Where art and music meet

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

The relationship between art and music has always been a powerful one. Consider artist Sir Peter Blake’s co-creation of The Beatles’ album cover for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band — the music would still sound the same without that iconic album cover, but would it have experienced the same universal appeal if not “branded” by Blake’s art?

In Sandpoint, Matt Lome is hoping to share his love of music and art with the community at large. Lome’s studios are open and available for instruction for all ages, with a specific emphasis on teaching children, teenagers and beginners.

Born and raised in Chicago and later attending college in Ann Arbor, Mich., Lome eventually moved out to Seattle.

Matt Lome in the music studio inside Cedar St. Bridge. Photo by Foster Cline.

“Then I wanted to find a smaller town and began looking around and found Sandpoint,” he told the Reader.

Lome soon opened a creative space inside the Cedar Street Bridge to chase after his artistic passions. Moving in six months ago, Lome said he spent three months building out the space to create the perfect environment to teach art and music lessons from his twin studios.

“I’ve been a guitar player and musician since I was 14 years old, and I’ve been painting since my early 20s, so when I saw this space I asked myself, ‘Should I open an art studio or music studio?’ I decided to do both.”

Lome’s upstairs units at the Cedar Street Bridge are side by side — Nos. 202A and 202B — featuring a clean aesthetic and bright, cheerful space that serves as an invitation to the muse.

“I wanted to create a space that puts you in an artful and musical frame of mind,” he said.

Lome said he prefers to teach fundamentals of music, including scales and chord structures and generally shying away from tricky musical theory to make sure his young students have fun first and learn second. 

“I love beginners and intermediates, but usually don’t teach advanced students,” Lome said. “I love working with kids and I’m really fond of the teenage population. Teenagers can often get swept aside and sometimes they don’t want to draw, paint or learn an instrument from scratch, but when they sit down and do the work, they do really extraordinary things.”

He takes the same philosophy with art instruction, focusing more on building confidence than getting bogged down with technique.

“I focus on being more competent at self-expression,” he said. “We have hungry minds when we’re kids and we gobble down information. Kids are also glued to technology with their faces pressed into phones ad nauseam, so when they sit down behind an easel and try to paint, it brings out a side that we forget. There’s genuine humility there and engagement to manipulate things in the real world, not just cyberspace.”

Lome said those interested in signing up their kids or themselves for music or art lessons are welcome to drop by his studio inside Cedar Street Bridge, or email [email protected].

Lome’s musical skills be on display this week, as well, when he hosts an ’80s music night at Barrel 33 at 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. Come dressed in ’80s attire for food and drink specials. He’ll also be hosting an open mic from 5-8 p.m. every Thursday at Barrel 33, located at 100 N. First Ave. in downtown Sandpoint.