Local artists blossom on TAG’s Trees at the Gallery
Trending
WARREN -- Holiday shoppers can support local artists and Trumbull Art Gallery as well as find unique gifts at Trees at the Gallery.
This is the seventh year for the holiday marketplace, which features trees decorated with handcrafted pieces that buyers can use to decorate their trees at home or give as gifts. Other local artists set up in spaces in the gallery to sell items too large to fit on a Christmas tree.
Patricia Cleary-Talstein, chair of the event's planning committee, said visitors will find more fine art this year.
"They will notice a lot of contemporary art work," Cleary-Talstein said. "I think that adds a little spice to it. Not everybody’s looking for an ornament or Christmas thing, so it’s a nice mix. Especially with the ceramic artists, they do a variety of things."
Participating artists for this year's Trees at the Gallery are: Dee Aston, Kristin Baker, Sandy Calles, Linda Carusone, Patricia Cetrone, Kat Devadan, Marie Semko-Duncan, Patricia Fleeger, Veronique Gerard, Susan F. Griffin, Deborah Hills-Haney, Joan Harless, Nancy M Higham, Marsha Knight, Jennifer Kohn, Ron Krygowski, Kathy Lepro, Jeanne McMillion, Amanda Moriarty, Zane Moriarty, Wendi Raven Patrick, Jeff Piper, Lynne Provance, Yasmin Rashid, Chuck Seidler, Regina Semko, Stephanie Sferra, Nicole Shuttic, Vicki Star, Ralph Teets, Abby Wendle, Tulla Zambetis and Cleary-Talstein.
Some of the work on display is bigger or heavier than the trees. Wendle creates large metal sculptures taller than most Christmas trees. Seidler, who lives in Girard, creates small wood pieces, such as cellphone holders, that can be used as stocking stuffers. But his space also includes a vintage, floor-standing 1941 Farnsworth radio from which he gutted the inner workings, installed Bluetooth capability and refinished the inside as a bar cabinet.
This is Seidler's second year at TAG, and he said he's talked to many customers in the past year who told him they first saw his work at the gallery.
"I like seeing all the stuff the artists make," Seidler said. "I'm amazed at how creative they are and the dedication that goes into it. I tell everybody I know, 'You want to go Christmas shopping? Come up here because you will get one-of-a-kind stuff you can't get anywhere else."
Yasmin Rashid of Vienna has been featured in TAG exhibitions and sells some of her work in the year-round gallery store, but this is her first time participating in Trees in the Gallery.
"All my artist friends, they put their stuff up here, and it’s like a small exhibition of your work, of what you do," Rashid said. "In the last two years. I did some clay studio pieces, and I decided, 'Why not? I might as well display my stuff.'"
Some of the participating artists travel to shows locally, regionally and even nationally nearly every weekend to sell their work.
"It's a nice atmosphere, and we've always done well here," said Ralph Teets, who crafts cutting boards, wooden utensils and other items. "What's nice about it is it's one set up and you're done until the end of December."
The artists also don't have to staff their spaces. They pay a fee for their space and the gallery gets a percentage of sales, but TAG handles the money, so the artists don't have to be on site for the 19 hours a week TAG is open with expanded holiday hours.
Despite that, Teets says he tries to be there as often as he can, because he sells more items when he's available to talk to potential customers about his work.
Participating artists donated items to fill a fully decorated tree, and raffle tickets are on sale at TAG for a drawing at 3 p.m. Dec. 19. Ticket buyers do not need to be present to win.
TAG also will be selling its Angels for Arts Education ornaments. This year features a new angel design, created by TAG board member Stephanie Sferra and turned into a 3D-printed cutter by Bill Griffin of Kinsman.
"It'll be totally different from the past five years," Sferra said.
Each of the 100 ornaments Sferra makes each year are unique. Some have different textures. Some will have red hearts, others will have heart cutouts.
The ornaments are available for a minimum donation of $10, and proceeds will pay for art classes at TAG for children and adults who would not be able to afford them otherwise. It also allows TAG to take art education to different venues.
"We’ve been at the Warren Farmers Market," Sferra said. "We’ve been at Lake Vista teaching water watercolor classes. We definitely have supported the Warren City Schools. Any of those classes that they’ve attended have been at no cost to them.”
WHAT: Trees at the Gallery
WHEN: Running through Jan. 2, 2027. Hours are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, noon to 6 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
WHERE: Trumbull Art Gallery, 158 N. Park Ave., Warren
HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, go to www.trumbullartgallery.com or call 330-395-4876.