In 1967, Sharon Munger moved to a bucolic home on Cove Road where she found the shell of a barn, a roof and pole structure — an old shelter that for years had been used for milking, storage, chickens and boat building.

She began the slow process of rebuilding the structure, adding walls, windows, a wood stove and a wood floor. “And while I was working on it, these three guys looked at it and said, ‘Oh, look, she’s discouraged.’ They came in and framed it and finished up in no time.”

Such is the spirit of what today is called Barnworks.

A private studio turned art gallery, Barnworks boasted its first show in 1982. Today, 25 years later, it’s one of the Island’s leading art galleries, a collective that both nurtures and promotes the 13 Island artists who call this gallery home.

“People have changed. I’m still here,” mused Munger, who has watched the gallery grow year after year.

Asked if it were her dream, she answered, “It just happened. It was fun to see the new work each year.”

In the mid-1970s, Munger — a weekend artist who made her living driving a UPS truck and teaching — began using the barn as an art studio, creating batik with friends.

In 1982, after a watercolor class and a group show at the Blue Heron, several painters decided to join together to paint and show their work. Munger found herself offering her barn as a studio and gallery for them.

“We decided to put on a show to keep up the interest,” said Munger. “We hand-painted the invitation and sent them out. ‘Do we put prices on the paintings?’ we asked ourselves.

“We couldn’t show at the Blue Heron again, so we kept the wood -stove going through the night to keep it warm next day.”

The group called itself Barnworks, had a few weekend shows and took part in summer art fairs. In December 1982, the First Annual Barnworks Watercolor Show took place.

The watercolor group changed members along the way and some of the original painters remain. Among them is Jayne Quig, who, with Janice Wall, greeted people at last weekend’s Art Studio Tour.

Wall has been with the group for about 10 years, and she’s developed as an artist in ways that she couldn’t have imagined, starting out with, she said, feeling uncertain and moving now to the accomplished pieces she’s showing.

And she and Quig both spoke fondly of a painting trip they took to Italy, near Florence, where they painted for a time.

Quig emphasized how the group has been flexible. And Munger said that at least a half dozen ex-members still live on the Island. They have moved on, and others have stayed, growing into new media as the group agreed to extend themselves beyond just watercolors into oil, pastel, acrylic and monotype.

Munger herself started with watercolor. “I do a lot of pastels now, but I still do watercolors.

“If I have seven (paintings), I really like two a lot. You learn to express yourself a little more in certain colors in combination. And I like marathon work, to not be disturbed. It comes from working for 20 years, working only on weekends.”

Munger also pointed to the personal element of the group.

“We enjoy each other’s company, and we look forward to having as good a show as we can. It’s a joy to see people come to the show, look around, go to the Co-op (a little retail building Munger added next to the barn), and then go on to somewhere else. It’s a great feeling when someone says, ‘There’s the painting I have to have,’ and that you have been able to create something somebody loves that much.”

Geri Peterson, who’s a relatively newer member of Barnworks, echoed Munger’s sentiments: “The one thing I have noticed is that Barnworks is very much a group about friendship.”

And it’s also about the hard work of managing the barn and the shows.

Peterson said she likes the way individual members “just pitch in to get things done.”

Munger, she noted, does most of the work that pertains to the barn itself and, with Wall, handles most of the administrative tasks, such as scheduling shows and overseeing postcard printing. Gretchen Hancock manages the Web site. Peterson helps with publicity. Ilsa and Hartmuth Reimnitz put together the yearly collage and manage the hanging. Dayle Holst does all the bookkeeping and purchases the postage.

“Almost everyone does the cleaning, decorating, food prep, helps with hanging, etc.,” Peterson said.

Today Barnworks supports two shows a year, the members’ Annual Holiday Show in December and the Spring Invitational in May, when the group invites guest artists to exhibit two- and three-dimensional work.

Thirteen local artists are currently members of at Barnworks: Jerry Balcom, Donna Botten, Hancock, Mary Hodgins, Holst, Jacquelyn Lown, Munger, Peterson, Quig, Hartmut and Isle Reimnitz, Jon-Eric Schafer and Wall.

The barn continues to serve the community as well as the Barnworks members. Art workshops, meetings and weddings take place there. The Vashon Allied Arts community quilt is created in the barn.

Each year the Barnworks members donate to the Vashon High School scholarship fund from the sales of artwork. This year’s Barnworks scholarship painting, which will be raffled during the studio tour, is a collection of favorite Vashon and Maury scenes. All this happens because the barn is there, and Munger is too.

“I’ve been here on Vashon for 40 years. Before that I had been in 13 different places in four years in four states. I haven’t left. I have gone for trips. I think I’ll call it home,” Munger said.