NEWFANE-The former office of John Morrison, a longtime broker with Barrett & Valley Associates Real Estate Office on Route 30 - a little boxcar-like building - has been transformed into a small gallery with an artists' workspace in the back. While it's been open on weekends and had a soft opening in October, Ed Jekot's 1330 Gallery formally opens on Friday, Nov. 22.
Freshly renovated, the space at 561 Route 30 welcomes area artists' paintings on warm gray walls under complementing light, sculpture atop antiques set on new gray plank flooring, and a public eager to explore art.
After several months of work, 1330 Gallery, named for Jekot's lucky number followed by the route number as noted on 1330gallery.com, will be ready to join the community while welcoming the public to experience local art and to meet the artists, which, for this opening show, include Adrianna Alty, Donnel Barnum, Peter Huntoon, Henriette Mantel, Steven Meyer, Diana Urbaska, Tim Walton, and Jekot himself.
In preparation for this Friday's opening, Jekot has been arranging these artists' work in his relatively small space such that each can be viewed comfortably with surprising spaciousness.
"I really want to showcase local art," Jekot says - and so he has.
From Brattleboro, Alty works in oils. Barnum, from Townshend and an illustrator for the Vermont Country Store, has several miniature landscapes in the show. Huntoon, who produces primarily landscapes in watercolor, oil, and print, hails from Middletown Springs.
Mantel, of Newfane, works in mixed media. Newfane's Meyer creates landscapes on Yupo (a synthetic paper) in ink. Urbaska, also of Newfane, works in oils rendering bold plant life. Walton, of Newfane, creates landscapes, and Jekot works in oils, encaustic, ceramics, papier-mâché - both 2D and in sculpture.
Jekot is keeping an eye out for other artists to consider for the Gallery.
"I want to represent about 12 to 20 people here," he says. "And so I'm toying with some ideas for shows. I may do an enormous teeny art show in December or January as a kickoff. And that would then get me to invite submissions from other artists."
The making of a gallery
The director of marketing at Mary Meyer Stuffed Toys in Townshend, Jekot came to Vermont after listening to a podcast featuring Alty, an old friend and fellow Rhode Island School of Design alum, in conversation with her friend, historian and writer Jill Lepore.
"[Alty had just] bought a building in Brattleboro. And so I decided I was going to move to Vermont. That's how I got to Vermont," he says. "I ended up showing up here because of her, my long-time friend."
Having been in Newfane for a few years, Jekot tells of driving by the building for a year before noticing its previous tenant, Morrison Real Estate, was no longer occupying it.
"It sat for a long time. Then there was someone else interested in building at the same time I was, so I'm glad [owner Ed Druke] gave me the opportunity."
Jekot painted the walls, put in a floor and ceiling, installed gallery lighting, and developed signage.
"Everything just takes a minute," he adds. "It really is going to be an evolution; it will be a business, yes, but I'm not doing this for a living. I want it to be part of the community, and I really want to have great art showcased. There are so many talented artists in Vermont and so many just around here."
Jekot's mission involves offering a space for artists -established, budding, and just curious - to work and learn from one another. From the first online list of upcoming gallery offerings, the public can choose one-session classes in grisaille painting and holiday clay tree-making for a fee, or a free monthly life drawing session.
"In the future," Jekot adds, "there'll be more elaborate workshops." Some will be one-day classes, and others will be multisessions.
Driving economic development
Jekot is pleased to be one of several Newfane businesses along the newly created Vermont 30 Collective corridor. Initiated by Matthew Banks and Gibbs Rehlen, the collective, according to vt30.org, "partners with the unique and diverse local merchants, farms, nonprofits, locals, and visitors who shape Vermont's Windham County."
Participating businesses, which pay a small annual fee, meet monthly to discuss challenges, ideas, and current climate. The ultimate goal, according to the VT30 website, is "to drive economic development and well-being in the area," connecting businesses from Stratton to Brattleboro.
All are invited to the opening of the 1330 Gallery which takes place this Friday, 6 to 9 p.m. Most of the artists will be on hand, and light refreshments will be served. For more information, visit 1330gallery.com.
This Arts item by Annie Landenberger was written for The Commons.