Co-op gallery planned in Uptown
Nonprofit exhibit space would be located above Amish
Originals
Thursday,
April 21, 2005
By
LIZ PECEK
ThisWeek
Staff Writer
By Chris Parker/ThisWeek
Renee Kropat, president of
Gallery 202, Partners in Art Inc., and John Daniels, president of the
Westerville Art League, stand in a space that will be used as a cooperative
gallery to display and sell artwork. The space is above the Amish Originals
store at 38 N. State St. in Uptown.
Artist's
rendering of what the inside of the space will look like.
A
nonprofit art organization plans to open a cooperative gallery that will host
exhibits and workshops and feature fine arts and crafts.
"We
have excellent artists here," said Renee Kropat, of Gallery 202, Partners
in Art Inc., which would operate the gallery. "There is no real venue for
local artists here."
The
nonprofit gallery would be located on the second floor at 38 N. State St.,
above Amish Originals.
The
3,600-square-foot space was fairly empty last week, except for the 20 artists
who attended an April 13 gallery information meeting. From tomorrow (April 22)
through most of May, the space will be used for the Westerville Art League
Spring Show and the Chair is Art exhibit.
Kropat,
who ran a private gallery in Uptown from 1994 to 2001, said she hopes to open
the cooperative gallery in June.
She
said the idea is based on a gallery she saw last October in Savannah, Ga.
Movable walls are expected to be placed in the gallery, with exhibit and
workshop space in the middle and individual artist spaces along the perimeter.
"I
want this to feel like a gallery museum," Kropat told the artists at the
informational meeting.
She
said Gallery 202 plans to lease the space, and have individual artists enter in
to contracts to lease display spaces. Artists would be selected by the Gallery
202 board.
Kropat
said it would be ideal to have at least 30 artists involved with the gallery.
Workshops and fund-raisers, she said, will also be held to help support the
venture.
Westerville
Art League president John Daniels said he's planning to lease a space there.
"This
has tremendous potential," Daniels said.
He
added that it would serve as "a vehicle for artists to share themselves
with the community."
Amy
Staufenberg, of New Albany, said she's considering whether to lease space.
"It
seems like a great idea," she said.
Sharon
Telatnik, of Westerville, is also considering a space in the gallery. Such a
venue is something that's needed in Westerville, she said, adding, "It's
hard for artists to have a place to show things."
"I'm
excited about it," said Gahanna resident Richard Clem, who has been
working on possible designs for the gallery.
Clem
said it'll be "one more destination that you can't find at your average
strip mall."
Gallery
202, Partners in Art Inc. is based in Westerville and specializes in community
art programs.
For
more information about the cooperative gallery, visit www.artswesterville.com,
<http://www.artswesterville.com/>
call (614) 882-7709 or e-mail renee@gallery202online.com.
<mailto:renee@gallery202online.com>
<lpecek@thisweeknews.com">b>lpecek@thisweeknews.com
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