The Becca Gallery

The first floor served as an art gallery for the first few years. It featured work by Wisconsin artists as well as hand-painted furniture and gifts produced onsite. The original showrooms were left mostly intact and few changes had to be made to accomodate the gallery. Later, when I converted to the toy store, major changes were made.

The first project in the Gallery was the painting of the mural entitled "Fur Ladies". In keeping with the Art Deco decor, it depicts three stylized women and roses. It was derived from the old fur catalogues which littered the abandoned offices. Instead of splitting the front gallery in two parts, the wall now jogs to accomodate the mural, which survived the recent construction intact, though it now resides behind storage shelves.

It is somewhat fitting that an old fur store has fallen into the hands of someone who advocates for anti-fur campaigns and cruelty-free living! But it should never be forgotten how many innocent lives were lost during the heyday of the fur industry.

Click Here To View The Entire Mural

During the renovation, it was also necessary to interview artists from around the state, and of course, to produce some major pieces of my own.

In the evening I could be found painting amidst the debris with the music blaring. Working alone in the building at night was never a problem, it has always had a feeling of watching out for me.

Pictured left painting the top of an oak desk, the mural is visible in the background, a large painting on masonite above and a six-panel door painted in a southwest motif to the right.

Shortly before the Gallery opened to the public, I moved my studio into one of the front bay windows. Not only was the light terrific, but the people who stopped to watch me paint were terrific. I often stopped to hold up a piece so they could see what I was doing, it was great feedback.

In my heart, however, I always felt that the building itself was my most compelling art project, and I really longed for the time to devote to the details. ONWARD