If artists Jan Crumpley, Taylor Collins and Susan Johnston of the new Parke Green Galleries in Dover have their way, their gallery will inspire other artists to open galleries in the capital’s picturesque historic area, helping to make it a destination for art lovers and history buffs alike.
“We’re willing to meet with other artists and give them guidance in opening their own galleries. We’d like to see this area become an artists’ community,” says Johnston.
Parke Green joins current Dover galleries the Raubacher Gallery on West Loockerman Street and the Delaware by Hand Retail Gallery at the Biggs Museum.
Parke Green showcases Johnston’s original watercolors and pen-and-ink drawings; limited-edition folk history prints and crafts by Collins; and watercolors and acrylics by Crumpley, who favors Delaware historic scenes.
Milford already has a blossoming arts district of its own. Angelucci Studios & Artists’ Gallery, the Mispillion Art League Gallery and the Studios Upstairs at 4 Park Ave. were joined in late 2012 by Gallery 37, a fine-art gallery that carries the work of owner Marcia Reed as well as an eclectic collection of works created by some 40 respected artists from around the country.
Reed, a recent Delaware transplant, says she fell in love with Milford when she was looking for a place to establish her gallery. “Milford to me feels a lot like East Hampton, Mass., where I lived for more than 30 years. I saw East Hampton grow and develop into a town that the Boston Globe called ‘a cultural center of Massachusetts,’ and I can see the same thing happening in Milford,” she says.
Much of Reed’s work consists of expressionist landscapes, but lately she has been creating more collage pieces made of diverse objects gathered on her world travels. Among the works in her gallery by other artists are furnishings by Silas Kopf, recognized as a leading woodworker in the country; glass pieces by Lynn Latimer, a former assistant to Dale Chihuly; and lamps and tables by Ugone & Thomas. (Thomas was once a student of Reed’s at the Williston Northampton prep school.)
(Parke Green Galleries, 674-1787; Gallery 37, 265-2318)
