EMERGING TALENT

Long-standing gallery and frame shop shifts focus to new artists

BY ALAENA HOSTETTER | PHOTOGRAPHY BY HOLGER OBENAUS

After 37 years in the framing and art dealing business, and with nearly 5,000 pieces of art in its collection, including works by Miró, Chagall and Dalí, Beaudry Gallery & Framing has shifted focus in recent months. The gallery is now promoting the work of its six new emerging artists in the front room of its space on Dragon Street, while the back room will feature interior furnishings and a rotating assortment from Beaudry’s massive art collection.

The gallery’s six new artists are: Sarah Janece Garcia, Savanna Syvrud, Emilie Beadle, Milessa Murphy Stewart, Brittany Paige and Sal Martinez, who goes by his first name only, Sal. They run the gamut in style and content but all make highly salable work.

Sarah Janece Garcia, from San Antonio, is represented exclusively by Beaudry in North Texas. She started as an oil painter and now primarily creates vibrant watercolor animal portraits that are incredibly detailed. “We’re already having trouble keeping up with the sales. Her work is just flying out the door,” says Janardan Meyer, gallery director.

Savanna Syvrud, a local Dallasite artist, creates large oil and acrylic abstract art with a mixture of tools, including palette knives and brushes. “[There’s] a lot of movement, geometrics mixed with abstract,” says Meyer. “It’s a unique take on contemporary art.”

Of the group of new artists, Emilie Beadle is the only non-Texan. Based in Detroit, Beadle and gallery owner Mary Beaudry, who was born and raised there, had an immediate connection, and Beaudry found the artist’s work truly captured the ambience of the iconic city. Beaudry Gallery is Beadle’s exclusive rep in Texas. Her Detroit surroundings have influenced her work with large-scale cityscapes that verge on abstract. They incorporate large blotches of color with a thick paint application.

“She definitely has some large, robust pieces—66 by 66 inches and 72 by 60 inches,” says Meyer. “We’re noticing a trend toward large art. People are wanting to take one piece and fill up a whole wall.”

Milessa Murphy Stewart, a Dallas resident, creates contemporary abstracts as well as two-dimensional pieces that are reminiscent of Dale Chihuly’s vibrantly colored blown glass sculptures. A self-described “colorist,” Stewart also creates vibrant photorealistic or surrealist renderings of public art sculptures from around the state.

Another artist who travels around the state in pursuit of her source material is Brittany Paige, who scavenges the landscape for trees that have been struck by lightning. Paige then turns the petrified wood into sculptural wall sconces. “Some are 6 or 7 feet tall. It looks like a tree on the wall that’s glowing. It’s beautiful,” says Meyer.

Sal, another Dallas native, comes from a graffiti background, and Beaudry is his first gallery representation. Meyer notes the gallery is selling a ton of graffiti art lately. In addition to bringing a look that is ontrend, Sal is also bringing an added interactive element. “He likes painting in the gallery,” says Meyer. Sal has already done one live painting event that was open to gallery guests and also live broadcast on Facebook. “It was a lot of fun and received a lot of response and hundreds of views,” Meyer adds.

The event was so successful that the gallery will be incorporating more live painting events. It’s inviting one of its six new artists to paint live in the gallery for a once-a-month event with wine provided for guests.

“It’s a good way to bring people into the art world,” Meyer explains. “Who doesn’t want to see an artist paint?”

Beaudry’s business was originally built on providing framing to the galleries on Dragon Street, and she operates a massive workshop in the back of the store for framing services.

“The relationship between interior designers and galleries should be nurtured,” says Meyer. And to that end, the middle room is catering to designers and heavy collectors with pieces from Beaudry Gallery’s extensive collection.

With the business-to-business portions covered, and the highly commercial work taking top billing in the front room for firsttime guests and drive-by window shoppers, Beaudry Gallery is striking the delicate balance between catering to a broad array of clientele and offering something for everyone.

Alaena Hostetter is a Dallas-based journalist who writes about all of her favorite things: art, fashion, culture, music, entertainment and food.

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