How “Mixed Messages” ART came to be. . . .

I retired as a district coordinator from Fresno Unified School District in 2006. Although I was enjoying my time painting at home, I quietly had the dream of opening a small gallery/studio/classroom. My visits to Sanger often took me by a little 600 square foot brick building in the parking lot of a busy bar in downtown Sanger that kept calling out to me that it would be the perfect location. Built in the year I was born (which I took as an omen), the tiny brick and mortar building with a tile roof, tiny porch, and non-functional windows looked like the perfect place to implement my dream. Sitting empty for years, one day in the summer of 2011 it had a “For Rent” sign in the window. I called the number on the sign and made an appointment to see inside. It was more perfect than I hoped for and I immediately felt like it had lived through being a cozy home for a family of 5, then a bustling beauty shop, and finally housing an insurance agency all in preparation for becoming a peaceful but vibrant studio/gallery for a working artist. I opened “Mixed Messages” ART at 1310 8th Street in Sanger, California in October of 2011 and haven’t looked back since. It’s been the perfect place to find inspirational solitude for painting as well as connect with friends, family, fellow artists, community members, and art lovers and collectors. It couldn’t be any more perfect as a place to create my mixed media art that often sends a message through symbols, letters, or words. I love the time I’ve spent at the gallery and don’t think I could have found a better location than this one. If a building and a person can be “soul mates”, then we are.