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Have you visited A Work of Art Gallery & Gifts?

April 09, 2015

Situated on the corner of State Street and 6th Street is a business that residents and tourists alike are sometimes surprised to find in Downtown Bristol, but once they find it, it’s a treasure. It’s an artist cooperative – A Work of Art Gallery & Gifts – that boasts an artist membership of over thirty local artists that collectively own and operate the gallery.

Voted Best of Bristol’s third best gallery/museum behind the Birthplace of Country Music Museum and Benjamin Walls Gallery, this unique shop has most of the art bases covered. President Teresa Kath says, “We have the largest collection of Bristol-specific gifts in the area – photography, postcards, notecards, and pottery. We also have many artists who focus on unconventional techniques – wax encaustic art, wine bottle art, hand-crafted furniture, and nostalgic miniature building models – and then we have artists who specialize in traditional media like painting, photography, woodworking, jewelry-making, pottery, and stained glass. The artists get 85% of their own sales, and the gallery only keeps 15% commission, so we are able to keep prices of our works really affordable as an artist cooperative.”

Over thirty members form the cooperative, and they have now started a waiting list until they can make space for more new artists. Current gallery members are: Tricia Blankenship, Ann Campbell, Terri Campbell, Nyela Hand Cohoon, Darla Adair Davis, Joan Dickenson, Danny Dorsey, Jacob Edwards, Ruthie Edwards, Tom Fluke, Tyler Glover, Dan Grogan (Treasurer), Rick Harmon, Virginia Hiss, Willis Jones, David Hollander (Board Member at Large), Teresa Kath (President), Larry “Skip” Knott, Joy Lawson, Cheryl Livingston, Dale McKinney, Stephen Moles, Briana Morris (Vice President), Nelly Ostrovsky, Lidany Rouse (Secretary), Bud Shinall, Regina Shinall, Ken Simmelink, Alexis Snyder, Daniel Velez, Larry VerRan, and Michael Waddell.

Vice President Briana Morris says, “Each day you’ll find one of our artists in the gallery. Because we’re a cooperative, we run all aspects of the business and we get to know the public when they come into the gallery. We also get to know the other artists at our monthly meetings. One of our artists donates the proceeds from all of her sales to a charity, another is a lawyer by day, and another is a retired art educator. Some of our artists are graphic designers or project managers, and some are full-time artists. Most have moved to our area from different places — even Puerto Rico and Ukraine. It’s such a fun variety of personalities and talents, and you’ll most likely encounter a different artist each day of the month when you visit us.”

More information about the gallery can be found at www.aworkofartgallery.com.