Village Arts celebrates 46th year during holiday open house

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Village Arts Framing and Gallery in Sawgrass Village held its holiday open house Saturday, Dec. 11, inviting the public to see the 150 works on display there and offering discounts on purchases. It marked a return to the annual event after a hiatus in 2020 due to the pandemic.

The business is celebrating its 46th year. It’s been owned the last 14 years by Pamela Keegan. The general manager is Lisa Cederberg.

“It’s a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun,” Keegan said. “It keeps me busy.”

Both women are artists, Keegan preferring oils and acrylic and Cederberg painting in watercolor. Their creative sense and eye for color benefit customers seeking the right matting and frames. Village Arts offers about 5,000 different frame styles supplied by an estimated 15 companies. Though the frames are built offsite, Keegan and Cederberg cut the glass and mats and put it all together locally.

Framing is both an art and a science, and expert framers must be good with tools and math. Experience is important, and its something both Keegan and Cederberg have. Their combined framing experience is about 50 years.

The art displayed at the gallery is an eclectic collection of works by local and regional artists, several who are award-winners. Browsers encounter plein air pieces, still lifes, abstracts and portraits.

Outside the gallery Saturday under the canopy, Ponte Vedra artist Eve Albrecht demonstrated her own painting technique.

Albrecht, whose work can be seen at the gallery and at an exhibit at Christ Episcopal Church, paints portraits, figures and landscapes. She is a member of CoRK Arts District in downtown Jacksonville.

“That’s a fun place, because Jacksonville has got some great artists, and a lot of them are downtown,” she said.

Albrecht’s paintings exhibited at Village Arts mostly focus on her travels, especially visits to Colorado and California.

For further information on the gallery, go to villageartspvb.com.