magine starting a business with 14 other people. Imagine sitting down and trying to come to a consensus. That’s just what the partners in a Millville art gallery have to do when faced with any type of business decision.
Special to the Coastal Point • SUBMITTED
Artist Dale Sheldon did this rendition of the Gallery One. Sheldon will be one of the artists available to the public at a reception Saturday night.Joyce Condry, Tinsel Hughes, Anne Hanna, Sonia Hunt, Joan Kesler, Lorraine Meehan, Pat Riordan, Dale Sheldon, Fay Kempton, Richard Matthews, Jeanne Mueller, Dianne Shearon, Sue Spence, Rina Thaler and Cheryl Wisbrock — 15 artists from Ocean City to Bethany Beach to Ocean View to Rehoboth — run Gallery One on Atlantic Avenue in Millville and, somewhat amazingly, they run it without many problems.
“It’s been amazing,” said Jeanne Mueller, one of the 15 artists. “We’ve all banded together and haven’t had problems at all. We all have the same goal.”
That goal: providing a unique experience to anyone who walks through the doors of the gallery. The 15 artists provide a diverse array of artwork, from watercolor paintings to oil artwork to sculpture, all of which is displayed in the two-room gallery.
And anyone will be able to walk around and look at the art, amongst all of the artists, tomorrow. After opening unofficially in early February, Gallery One will hold its official opening reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. tomorrow night in the gallery, across from Lord Baltimore Elementary School.
Wine and cheese, among other refreshments, will be served at the Saturday reception.
“It’s just a chance for people to come see the art and meet the artists,” Mueller said. “They’ll be able to meet them and talk to them.”
The gallery is now open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Thursday through Monday. After Memorial Day, it will remain open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. And Mueller said that the gallery will be offering another opportunity for area residents to expand their artistic sides. Although they are not yet finalized, the gallery will also be offering art instruction workshops.
A couple of the member artists and one outsider will be teaching classes on topics ranging from drawing to watercolors to acrylics to sculptures to glass fusion, which is like stained glass, but without the lead, Mueller said.
She said the gallery will likely be offering four-week classes, which will meet once a week. One class will meet in the afternoon and the other at night. The price is not yet set, but she said it should be about $50 per class.
“It’s pretty hard to find art instruction,” said Mueller, adding that there are classes being taught in Rehoboth and Ocean City but not locally. “This is going to be something that will open up a whole new avenue.”
The art classes are sure to be just another unique aspect of the 15-member gallery, which Mueller said grew as sort of an “offshoot” of the Bethany Beach Watercolor Society.
“As far as I know, there are no galleries in this area that are holding 15 artists,” Mueller said. “It’s unique.”
Artisans’ Framing
Just inside the building that houses the gallery sits a window. Behind that window, Annette Eisenhauer runs Artisans’ Framing, a custom framing shop.
Eisenhauer she can custom-frame anything from pictures to paintings to newspaper clippings. The price of the frame is based on the mat, glass and assembly. And all framing will likely take a couple of weeks to complete because nothing is kept in stock. She orders the wooden and metal frames and they are then cut in the shop.
“Price is not the thing when it comes to custom framing,” Eisenhauer said. “It’s the quality.”
Call the frame shop at 537-5056 for hours or more information.