Artist, Barbara Fisher
Warehouse Studios Celebrates New Artists in Old Digs
The painters who call Warehouse Studios home will hold a Studio Stroll preview open house on Friday, November 11, from 4–7 p.m. The public is invited to browse studios, meet artists and enjoy refreshments and entertainment in this building that helped lay the groundwork for the River Arts District (RAD). The RAD Studio Stroll follows on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 12–13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Purchased by artists Porge and Lewis Buck in 1987, what was once Williams Feed Company became the first building in the RAD to be turned into studio space. Today, this 1901 structure houses the RiverLink offices and seven artists, most of them newcomers to the space.
“I’ve been there two years,” says landscape artist David Skinner, “and feel particularly inspired by the character of our old building—the wood floors and weathered brick and the proximity to the river where I go and have lunch on many an afternoon.”
Barbara Fisher, an abstract artist, has been in her Warehouse Studios space since 1998. She remembers a very different RAD with 20 to 30 working artists in an industrial area still largely unrenovated. “There were no shops, no restaurants, not even a coffee place,” she says, “much less breweries [or] hair salons.” Today more than 200 artists in 22 repurposed buildings enliven the district with a wide variety of artwork.
“The very best thing about being a painter at the Warehouse Studios,” says abstract artist Gayle Paul, “is the fact that all the studios are occupied by painters. So, instead of the isolation a studio painter can work in, there is the opportunity to talk painting.”
Linda Greenup recently moved into Warehouse Studios, and has been a RAD artist before. “I am drawn to its relaxed creative energy,” she says, “with many amazing artists at work.” She enjoys the interaction with art lovers and prospective customers who often have questions about her techniques with water-based paints. “Your customers become part of your creative learning.”
Grace Carol Bomer, a longtime RAD artist, likes the creative freedom at Warehouse Studios where artists, she says, “can inspire each other or work undisturbed in our separate studios.” She enjoys teaching cold wax and oil classes in her studio and visiting with onlookers. “Folks like to watch the process,” she says. Olga Dorenko and Pamela Winkler also have studios there.
Collectively, the artists create in pastels, watercolors, oils and acrylics. Works for sale include originals, prints and cards.
Eighteen years ago, Fisher never imagined that the RAD could ever have a parking problem. “But,” she says, “all the growth is very exciting, and we are happy to have become a nationally known arts community and a tourist destination.”
Warehouse Studios is located at 170 Lyman Street in the River Arts District. Hours for the artists vary and information about them may be found at riverdistrictartists.com and in the studio guides available at various RAD locations. For more information about the Studio Stroll preview, contact Barbara Fisher at 828.230.4177 or barbara.fisher100@gmail.com.
