(2/24) On April 1, the Rebecca Pearl Gallery will open at its new location, Thurmont’s Main Street Center sited at 11 Water Street. After six years in Emmitsburg, Pearl and husband Jay made the decision to make the move back to the Thurmont community.
The main motivation for making the move back to Thurmont was the outstanding support Pearl has continuously received from the people of Thurmont. Pearl noted that since 2009, when she made the decision to move from Thurmont to Emmitsburg, Economic Development Manager Vickie Grinder had invited her back to Thurmont for the "Art and Wine
Stroll" every year. Grinder insisted on having Pearl on board to feature her art every year, and people were always excited to see her back. "The move really boils down to the necessity to move where the people support, which ultimately is Thurmont." She noted that overwhelming support was just never felt from the Emmitsburg community.
Pearl will now occupy a space in the Main Street Center to showcase her art, and her husband Jay will continue to offer custom framing. As visitors walk in, they can expect to see a design space off to the left that will showcase a portfolio of framing options as well as molding pieces on display.
Apart from creating her own works of art, Pearl will also continue to hold her art classes at the Main Street Center. Youth drawing and painting classes are currently being held on Saturday mornings and the adult watercolor class is being held on Tuesday mornings. "I enjoy teaching in the gallery," Pearl said. "You learn from the students
and it keeps you painting." She hopes that she can showcase her student’s art during special events, which would act as a phenomenal networking opportunity for other aspiring artists in the community.
As a way to mark her presence back in Thurmont, Pearl will be working on a piece featuring the Main Street Center building back in the day, when it was a Moravian Church. She noted her fascination and passion for depicting period pieces of local towns such as Thurmont. She recently completed a commissioned painting of the Shamrock
restaurant for the Fitzgerald family, remembering Mr. Fitz, and hopes to continue working on other pieces featuring Thurmont’s buildings.
In the future, Pearl would like to see her gallery space at the Main Street Center serve as a place for people to come in, sit, have a cup of coffee, and enjoy themselves in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. She wants to help harbor a space where people of all ages can come to enjoy not only her art, but the art of other local artists on
display.
Pearl will continue to keep busy doing commissioned works, as well as other personal pieces that inspire her. An animal lover at heart, Pearl’s more popular commissioned pieces are her dog and animal portraits, as she works collaboratively with each client to ensure their pets are captured perfectly. She draws tremendous inspiration from
the loving souls of the animals we are so lucky to have in our lives, and her work truly captures this. Her phenomenal work can be seen by visiting www.rebeccapearl.com.
As Thurmont is proud to welcome two new businesses in addition to Rebecca Pearl’s new gallery space, Emmitsburg has lost three businesses in the past two months – the Rebecca Pearl Gallery, Liberty Manufacturing Company Inc., and Callie’s Collectibles, which is currently up for sale. Taneytown is also growing, especially in the arts, as
RUST co-owner David Underwood will be opening "Rust Redux," a brand new multi-arts gallery space at the old Opera House in Taneytown. Refer to front-page article for more details.
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