East Fork Gallery moving across Main Street

The East Fork Gallery, an artistic mainstay in the Carson Valley since 1979, will be moving to a new home just across Main Street.

To help with the expenses of renovating the new space, purchasing new signs, and all the other costs associated with a move, the artists in the gallery have chosen some of their best work to offer to the public in a silent auction.

The artists encourage the public to come in, during regular business hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday – Saturday to bid on the artworks through May 22.

“The gallery has, since the beginning until the present, been a “go-to” place for long-time residents and newcomers for quality artwork that is original, local and affordable,” said Gallery Director Janice Powell Shedd.

The new location is 1512 Main Street, Ste 4, and will add art classes taught by talented and experienced teachers. There will be classes for both children and adults. A schedule of classes will be available soon.

The artists of the East Fork Gallery have hosted the annual “Scarecrow Festival” every October for more than 30 years.

This feature is now part of the Main Street Gardnerville “Fall Fest” and is an autumn favorite with the community.

The gallery opened in the venerable Harris Store in 1979, where the Historian Inn now stands. A fire claimed the original gallery on Jan. 23, 1995,

Soon after, a room in the Carson Valley Museum and Cultural Center housed the gallery until that room was later needed for a new museum exhibit. The current location has been home to the gallery since 2000.

“In the spirit of the founding artists and leadership in the past, the current artists chose relocating over ultimately closing the doors,” Powell Shedd said. “Afterall, the East Fork Gallery is one of the stops on the new Gardnerville-opoly game.”

The gallery is open for business in the current location until Memorial Day Weekend, when the artists will occupy their new space. There will be a soft opening on June 1, with a grand reopening on the 42^ndanniversary, July 25.

“In the meantime, art-lovers will be interested in finding just the right piece in the silent art auction,” Powell Shedd said.