Artists can finally recover from the artistic marathon that is the Moscow 30 30 30 event. Fitting to the name, 30 artists each created 30 pieces of artwork in 30 days.

The 900-piece art collection will be on display this week at the Third Street Gallery, accompanied by several artist events.

This year’s event was the first time WSU fine arts senior Kyla Lakin and fine arts instructors JJ Harty participated in 30 30 30.

Lakin typically works with acrylic paint and animals as her subjects. She said she thought about how the artwork would be displayed (in rows of 6), and tried to make small groups that would be arranged together.

“I focused a lot on a geometric design in the profile of different dog breeds, a coffee theme, ocean beaches and calla lilies,” Lakin said.

WSU fine arts instructor Daniel Tate works with water colors and painted from pictures that lent themselves to the medium, including pastoral landscapes, boats, and various everyday objects.

“I just tried to make visually fun or beautiful work,” Tate said.

As a sculptor, Harty faced a unique challenge. One of the criteria for the competition is that all work must be on or attached to the 6-by-6 inch canvases provided.

He said he used found pieces from the alleyways of Pullman and Moscow and attached the damaged and discarded objects to the canvas board, which he found was his biggest challenge. He said he considered naming the entire collection “Pieces of the Palouse.”

“I kind of had a rule that if I picked it up, whether I liked it or not, it was a candidate,” Harty said. “It was a bit tricky, but I figured it out.”

Tate said participating in the 30 30 30 was a war of attrition. He said he’d participated in the event before but this time he allotted his time more carefully, working on two to three paintings for a few days at a time.

“For those 30 days it was my primary pastime, I was not very social,” Tate said.

Harty and Tate agreed the 30 30 30 is a great opportunity to motivate artists to create a lot of artwork in a short amount of time.

“The biggest challenge in general for this type of project is being able to finish 30 pieces of artwork in 30 days,” Lakin said.

The event gives people a chance to not only buy artwork at an unusually-low price but to see the work of a variety of local artists, Harty said.

“It brings Moscow and Pullman and the surrounding area together to see some great work,” Harty said.

An artist reception will take place Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A sneak peak of the work will be available Thursday from noon to 5 p.m. and on Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Ending the week will be the One Day Sale for artwork  from  4:05 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., during which the each canvas can be purchased for $30.