By Joe Pinchot
Herald Staff Writer
SHARON —
Donna Bostardi was looking for studio space to make her art jewelry. She ended up with a house that dozens of artists are using as a place to gather and to show and sell their work.
About eight years ago, Ms. Bostardi was living in Niles, Ohio, when she was taking yoga classes at the Walnut Lodge Yoga and Movement Center, Sharon. She told Tommy Misko, who owns the building where the center is located, about her need for space, and he showed her a house he had renovated at 29 Logan Ave. in Sharon.
She moved in about 3è years ago and found the amount of space was more than she needed.
“I had all this space and I thought, ‘No one’s going to come here and just see my jewelry.’”
She talked to other artists about using the building for a multi-artist gallery. It was a tough sell at first.
“In the beginning, it was me convincing everybody,” she said.
But the idea caught on. Not only did artists show and sell their work, but people came to her open houses to see and buy pieces. She held her first open house in September and about 100 people attended.
“It just kept growing,” Ms. Bostardi said of the two-room gallery named after the address. “I never expected the response that I got.”
Now, artists are trying to convince her that they should be allowed to display and sell their work there.
“People will just drop in here with portfolios and ask if they can show here,” she said. “I have met some amazing artists that way.”
Sixty artists from the Shenango Valley; Greenville; Grove City; Edinboro; Youngstown; Warren, Ohio; Akron, Ohio; and other areas now are displaying paintings, photographs, jewelry, stained and blown glass, metal work, wood pieces, fabric and knit items, pottery, gourd masks and dolls.
Artists are holding demonstrations and classes, and small groups can book social events at the gallery.
“It brings the artists together,” Ms. Bostardi said of all the activity. “We’re trying to make people aware of the talent that’s here, the creativity that’s here.”
Although she has not promoted the gallery very much, the Christmas season brought in a lot of people.
“Christmas Eve, there were people coming in and out of here all day,” said Ms. Bostardi, who sells on consignment.
The gallery has been busy enough that she wants to computerize her inventory.
“There is stuff in here for every price range,” she said. “There is expensive stuff in here, but a majority of the stuff is affordable.
“I guess that’s the trick. It’s not all fine art, but it is all made by local artists and handmade.”
Minding the gallery has kept Ms. Bostardi from making her own jewelry.
“I haven’t had a lot of time to sit down at the bead table since I opened this thing,” she said.
She creates bracelets, necklaces, charms, earrings and pendants, seeking to arrange the stones, including turquoise, sunstone and freshwater pearl, so that their colors are brought out, and highlight the natural properties each stone is said to possess.
She also makes standing bead creations that she calls “drama queens.”
“I’m branching out into precious metal clay,” she said. “I like to sculpt with it. The kiln burns out the clay binder. You are left with the sterling silver.”
