By David Slone
Tiimes-Union
WARSAW — Atelier, a contemporary art gallery, will open in downtown Warsaw on March 9.
The gallery, at 104 E. Center St., Warsaw, represents emerging and contemporary artists and will exhibit a new artist every two months, according to a news release from Atelier.
Atelier, owned and operated by art advisor Sea Grandon, will be a place for art collectors and creatives to gather, explore ideas and share perspectives. An atelier is an artist’s studio or workshop, and Grandon said the new gallery is intended to provide an outlet in Northern Indiana for innovation and creativity.
“As an art advisor with clients on both coasts and in major urban centers, I hope this central, Midwest location will allow me to introduce existing and new clients to artists they would not otherwise encounter,” Grandon said. “I want the Atelier space to serve as a creative think tank for our community and actively promote its visual arts.”
While New York City is considered the international art world’s capital, Grandon says satellite centers are critical for creation, exploration and exhibition, particularly in the post-pandemic world. Atelier is dedicated to disrupting the hierarchical geography of artistic innovation and appreciation, according to the news release. The gallery reflects Grandon’s guiding principle that beauty has no borders.
First Exhibit
Atelier will open its first exhibit, “Ritual: Paintings by Andrea Granger,” from 6 to 9 p.m. March 9. The show will run through April 22.
Granger will use the exhibition to display more than a dozen abstract expressionist paintings, rendered in bold color and with compositional virtuosity, according to another news release. The artist says the show’s title reflects her creative process.
“For me, creating art is a ritual, a mediation in color and form,” Granger said. “I let my intuition guide me and let the brush lead. It’s a dance between me and the canvas, and I never know where it will take me.”
According to Grandon, the word ritual not only describes Granger’s process, but also her final product.
“In these paintings, we see something primitive and central to the human condition,” Grandon said. “It is an exploration of our core instincts and emotional commonalities and the strength we derive from them.”
Granger’s pieces, like “Casting the Bones” and “Bewitched,” invite viewers to feel the rhythm of the artwork’s heartbeat and contemplate meaning, Grandon said.
Granger cites art legends Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler and Lee Krasner as influences. She said music plays a central role in her artistic process. For her Atelier show, Granger will provide visitors a playlist offering additional insight into her ritual.
Granger is a painter and designer based in Warsaw. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she primarily studied painting. Her show at Atelier is her first solo exhibition.
Hours & Ownership
Atelier hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Grandon is a contemporary art advisor and attorney. Atelier is her first art gallery. Grandon has an undergraduate degree from Wellesley College and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. She has been working in the art market for nine years, advising clients on investment-grade art collections. Her clients live throughout the United States, and her work takes her to galleries, museums and art fairs around the world. Grandon lives with her family in Warsaw.
