Artist Karen Klevgaard has increased exposure for small town artists and expanded art culture in her community by creating The Little Art Gallery.
Located in the back of Studio 20 Hair Design in Craven, the gallery is an opportunity for local artists to showcase their work and sell it for profit.
Before The Little Art Gallery came to fruition, it started off even smaller in Klevgaard’s garage four years ago.
“I’d been painting for a while, but I just didn’t have any way to sell myself, so I thought … I’m going to have an art show and sale out of my garage,” said Klevgaard.
With herself and two other artists, the trio sold over $1,200 worth of product in six hours.
“That was a huge boost of confidence for us. So then [Jacqui] actually owns Studio 20 in Craven, and she has space behind her salon and approached me about two months later and said, ‘You know what, I would love for you to open a gallery this little but use it for the artwork,’” said Klevgaard.
“So I set up a Facebook page and I put on there … If you have work, bring it in. I was so blown away by the number of artists in our area that I had to put a restriction of within no more than 30 kilometres.”
Now in a bigger location, the gallery features 17 artists and a variety of art forms such as painting, pottery, wood carving, jewelry and stained glass.
One of the artists featured at the gallery is Mardell Taylor. Taylor helped Klevgaard open the gallery and specializes in graphite, charcoal and acrylic painting.
“The ones I really like to do is old barns, old houses, old farms, that kind of thing. It’s just something I’ve always been interested in,” said Taylor.
“And I do a lot of portrait work. I’ve done a lot of animal work, like people for memorials, their pets have passed away, that kind of thing. I do quite a bit of commission work.”
The gallery has reached wide-range success with people locally, nationally and internationally purchasing art.
“I think that’s because there’s a little bit of a closet artist in every one of us. We want to see our community thrive. Everybody wants to support it,” said Klevgaard.
“My pieces have gone down to Mexico, Texas … I believe the furthest one was from England.”
The gallery is set to open on the second Saturday of April and will remain open until December, operating on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Taylor is also working on new pieces to add to the gallery for its re-opening.
“I will be going into the gallery, and I’m working on a couple more that I haven’t quite finished yet, so I’m hoping to get a couple more pieces,” said Taylor.
The gallery uses word of mouth and social media to promote new artists and events. For information on what’s upcoming at the gallery, details can be found on Facebook via The Little Art Gallery in Craven.
“I’m more for the community, and I want them to know that there’s that little niche, and that Craven has some pretty unique stuff, said Klevgaard.
