You don’t often hear art gallery owners say they were inspired by the Eddie Murphy film Beverly Hills Cop. More specifically, by a profanity-ridden scene in the film that pokes fun of the art world.

The scene takes place in a high-end Los Angeles art gallery, between gallery worker Serge (played by Bronson Pinchot) and Axel Foley (played by Eddie Murphy).

But that’s what happened with Judith Rinehart, owner of J. Rinehart Gallery in Pioneer Square. Rinehart saw the movie as a teenager growing up in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, where she says the paths that young women could pursue with their lives were limited.

Rinehart says part of the appeal was the mystery of what Serge was doing. She thought, “What is this person’s profession?!” The film planted the seed that art and art history were things she could study and one day professionally pursue.

Rinehart also thought that selling expensive art to collectors sounded fun.

These days, as a gallery owner, Rinehart still lights up when she watches that scene.

“I feel like this is the perfect scene for how one could go into an art gallery and feel like you could ask the question of, ‘How much is this thing?’” Rinehart said. “And my job is to be welcoming and tell you. And, not judge.”

Rinehart knows that not everybody can collect art at a high level — like Axel Foley, Rinehart was stunned when Serge said he’d just sold a piece for $130,000. But she doesn’t think it follows that art galleries are exclusive or unwelcoming.

“I think art galleries can be for everyone,” Rinehart told Meet Me Here host Jeannie Yandel. “They are one of the few spaces anybody is allowed to come in. You can look at what’s on the wall. You can like it or not. You can have an opinion about it or not… Maybe you just want to come in and take a look, see what’s even out there, and find the thing you like.”

Rinehart believes so deeply in the richness of Seattle’s arts and culture scene that she helped create an entire week of visual art events and performance collaborations. Almost all of the events happen in local art galleries, and everything is either free or discounted. It’s called Art + Culture Week, and it runs Sept. 20 -27.

Rinehart says more than 50 galleries are participating this year, with a bunch of events every day.

But don’t worry. If you don’t know which events to pick, Rinehart and host Jeannie Yandel have some suggestions to get you started.

Judith Rinehart’s suggestions: 

Jeannie’s suggestions: 

Other mentions in the episode: 

This story comes from an episode of KUOW’s “Meet Me Here” podcast. Listen on the KUOW app or wherever you get podcasts.