A desire to serve talented artists and a charming small town drive Mica Gallery’s six business owners. In addition to making their own work to present and sell, Mica’s partners perform the jobs required to manage a 2,000-square-foot retail operation. Artists see the gallery as a community hub and gathering place, and a way to connect visitors with the creative work of the area. The building is important to Bakersville’s history as the home of its first automobile dealership and later the town’s grocery store and butcher.
Shelter. Vicki Essig, artist
“Our historic space is warm and welcoming with beautiful art and daylight that fills the room with optimism,” says textile artist Vicki Essig, Mica’s treasurer and finance manager. “We work as a team to keep the gallery not only operational but thriving. I particularly enjoy the special exhibitions, artist talks and events we hold.” In her studio, Essig continues her refined silk weavings and her coaching of silkworms to spin the patterns she designs. “I am self-taught in the world of sericulture, or silk farming, and will always be learning from other artists and from observation,” she says.
Potter Robbie Bell, who serves as president, handles social media, the website, organizing special events and overall communication and wrangling. Bell describes his skills and motivation as “finding ways to get people through the doors to discover what happens in our mountains.” He believes that Mica functions as a cheering squad for the community. “We greet and get to know the people that frequent our gallery and talk about the incredible work that takes place in our mountains,” he says.
After Helene hit, many potters lost their sources for supplies. “Choosing one’s clay is not like going to the grocery to find your brand of milk is out of stock so you buy the one next to it,” Bell says. “It takes experimenting to find the right clay for your process, glazes and firing schedule.”
Bell teams up with printmaker Jean McLaughlin to promote the gallery and market the region’s artists. As secretary, McLaughlin assists with finances and planning, and has written numerous post-Helene requests for recovery support. McLaughlin spent several weeks during a residency program in the Loire Valley focused on drawing in gardens. She also produced a series of lithographs on the subject of flowers. “In these prints, I have combined the patterning of flowers carved onto stone and printed on fabrics from a trip to India with my memories of the cutting gardens of my various Southern relatives,” McLaughlin says.
David Ross, another Mica potter, manages the gallery’s physical space, including lighting, setting up for special events, bartending, routine cleaning and storm clean-up. Ross describes Mica’s behind-the-scenes operation as smooth teamwork. “One is a lonely number,” he says. “As an artist who works primarily alone, it is valuable for me to have relationships with other artists.”
Rounding out the team are jeweler and ceramic sculptor Lisa Joerling, the gallery’s contact with the 40 consignment artists, and potter Teresa Pietsch who handles sales-related bookkeeping, technology support and work schedules.
Mica’s partners, along with volunteers who help with gallery installations and sales, have worked together to ensure that the gallery remains open post-Helene as a beacon of light for the community and support for artists. The gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of area nonprofits. “The funds we have received demonstrated to us that Mica is an asset to the community and provided us with the needed moral support to invest our time and efforts in its success,” says Bell.
Mica hosts its annual Holiday Open House on Friday, December 12, 4–6 p.m.
Mica is an artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft located at 37 North Mitchell Avenue in Bakersville. Follow the gallery at MicaGalleryNC.com, or Facebook and Instagram at micagallerync.
