SEASON OF THE ARTS
ART
61
There is a
different feel than
there was two years
ago. There is a reason
to go downtown. ”
Shotsi Kain LaJoilie works on a new ceramic piece.
their small seed of an idea would blossom.
Just one year later, the number of galleries had tripled,
including Artists Guild Gallery, which had moved into
a new location much larger than its old Royal Palm
Pointe building. With AGG came Judy Burgarella, who
worked with Blakeslee in pulling the galleries together
for mutual marketing efforts and promotion of the
monthly event, which now spotlights 10 galleries, plus
restaurants and other area businesses. In January, after a
hard-fought campaign by the gallery owners, the City of
Vero Beach “recognized the Vero Beach Historic Downtown
Arts District as an official designation,” Blakeslee
says. Signs have been placed strategically by the city to
direct traffic to the area.
George O’Malley, co-owner with his wife, Linda, of
Darby Fine Art says, “Growth has been pretty dynamic,
even in this slow economy ... What has contributed
most to the growth is that the galleries are learning to
collaborate on many different levels to get things accomplished.”
Darby Fine Art was the sixth gallery on
14th Avenue when it opened a couple of years ago, surrounded
by a good blend of restaurants and galleries
with some unrealized growth potential, O’Malley says.
>>
“
— Sherry Wilson of MSVB Studio and Gallery
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