(Above: Artist Shelley Roenspie has opened a new venue for art shows and classes — called simply The Gallery — at 294 Smith St. in downtown Harrisburg; photos by Paul Carter)
By Randi Bjornstad
The name is simple — The Gallery — and having her own space to show art and teach classes is a dream come true for artist Shelley Roenspie.
Artist Shelley Roenspie offers monthly art classes at her new gallery in Harrisburg
The Gallery, in downtown Harrisburg, occupies a charming, high-ceilinged space in an old building that long ago housed a bank. It’s right on the southwest corner of Third and Smith streets, which means everybody who drives through town passes right by.
Roenspie and her husband, Jim Roenspie, opened the gallery on May 1, and the walls are already covered with paintings and drawings. Some are Roenspie’s, in her singular style that blends impressionism and modernism set apart by a protective and aesthetic sheen that Jim Roenspie developed especially for her work and which he calls his “secret sauce.”
They occasionally have allowed a few close fellow artists to use the finish, such as abstract painter Barbara Weinstein, whose work also is on display now at the The Gallery.
In July, Roenspie and Weinstein also will combine their work in a show at the Tronson Gallery of Contemporary Art in downtown Springfield.
Demetra Kalams is one of the artists showing her work at the new Harrisburg gallery, including “Tulips in Gold Vase”
Other work now on exhibit at The Gallery includes graphic drawings by Lynae Nelson, still life and figurative work by Demetra Kalams, fine jewelry by Lilli Marie, and intricate origami creations by Harrisburg high school student Haiden Johnson.
Weinstein’s abstracts are a new form for her art, something she began exploring just a year-and-a-half ago.
“Before that, I mostly liked to do portraits and figures, and I enjoy plein air painting,” she said. “But I always loved color, and I find that the abstract paintings let me really explore that more fully, especially painting in acrylic, which allows me to work much faster.”
She did attend art school, Weinstein said with a
Artist Barbara Weinstein worked on an abstract painting during a class at The Gallery
laugh, “but it didn’t suit me — I was never good at following directions.” She turned to art history, then eventually studied to become a licensed social worker, spending most her career working with children.
But Weinstein’s yen for art never went away, and she relishes her newest iteration, although she admits that for her, “Art can be a bit of a struggle.”
“I sometimes start with a shape in mind — round or lines or squiggles — and I cover the whole canvas and than look back and go over the whole thing again,” she said. “For me, it’s a process of adding or eliminating or even completely changing. The art just eventually happens.”
It’s the opposite for the origami artist, Haiden Johnson, whose intricately constructed, often kinetic creations hang in a small loft area above the gallery’s front door.
Harrisburg High School student Haiden Johnson is showing some of his origami creations at The Gallery; photo by Randi Bjornstad
His sister, Bekki Johnson, proudly shows off her younger brother’s work. She graduated from Harrisburg High School herself a year ago, and having discovered art there as a freshman, took classes all four years.
“I stopped in at The Gallery as soon as I saw it was open, and that’s when I met Shelley (Roenspie),” Johnson said. “I was excited to see something like that in Harrisburg, so I started helping — I hang art, sweep the floors and set up for classes.”
One of those classes happened on June 15. The next one will be on July 14.
The Gallery
Where: 294 Smith St., in downtown Harrisburg
Hours: 10 a.m. t0 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, or by appointment
Information: Call or text 541-543-5920; email shelleyroenspieart@yahoo.com
Six-year-old Haydan Su, joined in Shelley Roenspie’s June art class at The Gallery in Harrisburg
