'Sense of joy' Reopening gallery doors after a 'tough year'

Dolores Justus paints on an unnamed painting in the sudio space in Justus Fine Art Gallery. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-Record
Dolores Justus paints on an unnamed painting in the sudio space in Justus Fine Art Gallery. - Photo by Tanner Newton of The Sentinel-Record

When the pandemic effectively shut down the arts community in 2020, local gallery owner Dolores Justus worked to keep her gallery open and safe. Now, as COVID-19 numbers continue to fall, she said that a "sense of joy" has returned to the building.

While some galleries closed, Justus Fine Art never shuttered its doors. However, that doesn't mean that the gallery had a smooth time early in the pandemic.

"It was really difficult because we did a couple of virtual Gallery Walks, in April and May," Justus said. She said that while the Gallery Walks were held virtually, "you still had to hang a new show to have something for that and I was still open, but of course, not a lot of people were coming in."

Justus said she started to feel better about keeping the doors open after doing some shopping.

"After a few trips to Lowe's and the grocery store, I thought "Oh, I really don't have to be closed. I don't have a mob of people come in," just a few at a time," Justus said, adding that she provides masks and hand sanitizer to those who enter the gallery.

"It's easy to maintain social distancing here, and of course, it's not a place where you touch a bunch of things either, and so I felt like it was safe -- better than going to the grocery store," Justus said.

Beginning in June 2020, Justus resumed holding live Gallery Walks each month.

"The numbers haven't been really high, but I've had enough sales, collectors that would see something ... to keep the doors open, but yeah, it's been a tough year, and it's been a tough year emotionally for people. Just the isolation has been difficult," Justus said.

Other local galleries started reopening recently for Gallery Walk, with all local galleries being open for the most recent one.

"The last two gallery Walks, where my artists have gotten their vaccines and people are feeling safer about coming out, there's really been a sense of joy during the openings," she said. "We had a really good turnout of people, both the April and May Gallery Walks," she added.

"It's with everything, we take things for granted. We take our relationships for granted, the ability, of course, to gather. From every challenge, like COVID certainly has been, I think it made us realize how important the people in our lives are to us and how much we need each other," Justus said.

Challenge, Justus said, is nothing new to a gallery owner.

"(Sales have) gotten a little better. It is a difficult business to be in, any time, it's not easy. It just is a challenge," Justus said. She said that she continues to operate her gallery because, "I like to be able to provide this for the artists, for the community, and ... because I think it's important."

Justus has had the gallery for nearly 17 years. She said that Linda Palmer convinced her to open one all those years ago.

"I was needing a new office space for my design and marketing business, and a friend, Linda Palmer, suggested that I get a space that I could have a gallery in the front, and this was just available," Justus said. "So I rented this space and started a gallery. I've had it, in August will be 17 years I've had the gallery, and of course, just having a gallery is not as simple as it sounds," she said.

"I sometimes refer to it as the gallery has me, but it's been a good experience," Justus said.

Prior to opening a gallery, Justus already ran Justus Design and Marketing. She said that this business has been open for over 20 years.

"I do graphic design, art direction, I do writing, so I'm like a little small agency, essentially. Mostly it's a lot of freelance work. People that need a few things. Maybe they need a logo and branding elements," she said.

Justus said that surviving requires both the design company and the gallery, as well as her own artwork.

"I have a three-legged stool. I'm a creative, and as most creatives, you have to wear many hats to make it. (And) be able to continue your art. And so the gallery, the design business, and then my work exhibiting my own work at other galleries, along with here, those are the major businesses," she said.

"It takes all three of those things working together to continue," Justus said.

Justus said she decided to go into the arts as a career after initially considering a career in science.

"I have always made art as long as I can remember. It's always been something that I loved doing, and I didn't get tired of doing. In high school, I took all the college prep courses for going into the sciences, because I do have a strong interest in that, and all my family is in the sciences, but the more I thought about it, I knew I would never get tired of making art, and so instead I chose art," she said.

While earning a bachelor's degree in Fine Art, Justus said she "also took all the graphic design courses that were offered because I knew that I would need a way to make a living on top of it all."

Justus said she was correct in that she never did get tired of making art.

"Everything's different. Even though, as an artist, I've been making art for a long time. Each piece has its challenges, and it's like its own new problem to solve, and that's what keeps it interesting. You are always addressing something new," she said.

"I love art, and having the other artists that I carry, to be able to see them also continue to experiment and grow ... that's inspiring to me, and it's exciting to share that with other people," Justus said. "My goal is to have work that is of a high quality by artists who are continuing to produce and to grow."

Justus has over 30 artists in her gallery.

Selling a piece of artwork, Justus said, feels great.

"It makes you feel really good to have someone love something that you created enough to want to buy it, that feels very good. It's actually the most rewarding thing to me, above my other work, because the art is so personal. It's personal to you, the people who the art responds to, it's personal to them, and for someone to be moved by something you created, to feel like you communicated in a way that brought joy to somebody else or held meaning that they connected with, that is like winning the lottery, it's the best thing," she said.

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