GATE CITY, Va. – When the Clinch Mountain Merchant closed a few months ago on Jackson Street, Carol Dixon came up with an idea.
Dixon figured the downtown corridor of Gate City, Va., needed a new busi-ness just like that – a place where artists could showcase paintings, prints, ceramics, jewelry, photographs, carvings, quilts, toys, books and Christmas decorations.
So, with help from several others, Dixon created the Clinch Mountain Arts & Crafts, a non-profit consignment gallery and shop that celebrates a grand opening on Nov. 21 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The store is part of the Southwest Virginia Community Foundation, a Gate City-based organization that recently won a $500,000 state grant to develop a performing arts center at Gate City, just off The Crooked Road.
Each June, the non-profit foundation hosts the Clinch Mountain Music Fest in downtown Gate City. The foundation is also working on a project to renovate the Bush Mill at Nickelsville, Va.
“The foundation serves a seven-county region in Southwest Virginia,” said Dixon, the foundation’s chief executive officer.
For now, Dixon has focused her energies on the new arts and craft shop, and all proceeds from the store will be used to offset operating costs and provide art and cultural education, she said.
“We started this because we are involved in the ‘Round the Mountain program,” Dixon said. “We’re trying to provide a stepping stone for artists to become active members in the ‘Round the Mountain and Heartwood program.”
Based in Abingdon, Va., ‘Round the Mountain is a network of artisans. A related venture, Heartwood, is a craft gallery and visitors center now being built on the campus of Virginia Highlands Community College, just off I-81’s Exit 14 in Abingdon.
Most artists work at home and are not eager to open their home studios to the public, Dixon said, so the Clinch Mountain Arts & Crafts will serve the need “for a public place to showcase arts and crafts on a continuous basis.”
Lee County basket maker Gary Carroll is slated to be on hand for the grand opening on Nov. 21. So will musicians Jay Dixon and John Snodgrass.
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