The Visceral Art Gallery, run by Francine and Terry Riley, is moving from its Centerville location to the Pendleton to be part of the burgeoning art operation here. About 50 artists are part of Visceral. Their Centerville gallery remains open now, but it will close at the end of May, said Francine Riley.
“This opportunity is a fresh breath of air. It’s a chance to part of an emerging community. I’m an emerging artist myself,” said Riley, who taught art in Centerville City Schools for 30 years.
Visceral opened in Dayton’s Oregon District in 2007, moving to Centerville about a year later so the Rileys could be closer to home. However, Riley came to feel isolated at that location, which isn’t art-centric.
During a recent Visceral art show, Jackie Phillips, Middletown’s health director, told Riley about the Pendleton coming to Middletown. Riley, who already had been thinking about moving, saw her opening.
In Centerville, “We’re still very much of an island because of the location,” Riley said. Of Middletown she said: “Here, we’re part of a destination.”
Visceral’s space in Middletown will be 800 square feet — about half that of its Centerville location. Still, the move will “encourage me to work more, and being able to talk about art with the other artists is a plus.”
Riley will work in the space and showcase the other artists’ work, she said.
Her husband, Terry, was painting Wednesday in the Pendleton, but he’s not an artist. He was just “sprucing up the place and polishing the rough edges.
“I hang the work, I help maintain it and I can sell it pretty well. I can talk about it and work the crowd,” he said.
Jane A. Black, the director of the Dayton Visual Arts Center, said that while the Rileys have contributed significantly to the Dayton scene, she understands the move.
“In that area, we’re kind of growing together,” Black said, referring to development between Dayton and Cincinnati. “To some degree, you need to go where the people are ... it’s the hotel theory in action. Do you go to where there’s one hotel, or do you go to where there’s six? It just makes sense.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.
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