MACON, Ga. — The Frame Shop in Macon’s Ingleside village is now under new ownership and the owners are ready to hit the ground running.
Heather and Kerry McLaurin purchased the space from the previous owner, and they’re set to have their grand opening next week.
“We've got tons of artists bringing work in,” Heather said.
The week-long grand opening will include a raffle with prizes like pieces of art, prints, a photography book, and door prizes provided by local businesses.
“Anyone who comes into the gallery the entire week, anything that they purchase will give them an automatic entry into the raffle,” she said.
They’re also raffling off adult ‘cork and canvas’ style classes and a custom framing job of any piece of art. That framing can be worth up to $250.
“Somebody can come in and have a piece framed that would normally cost that much,” she said.
Shirley Stafford Long’s art will be on display at the gallery for the week as well. Heather says Long is one of the pioneers of the art initiative in the Ingleside Village neighborhood.
“I look up to her,” Heather said. “She took me under her wing. She’s the one that started teaching me color and now she’s painting again, and her work is going to be on display in the same gallery that she helped to start over a decade ago.”
The couple decided to have a week-long grand opening instead of hosting it on one day to accommodate the pandemic.
“Because of COVID, we didn’t want to do one day,” Heather said. “We want to be aware that we don’t want to have everybody come in at one time. We want to have the ability to have space.”
She and Kerry have learned the framing trade from the original owner, Heather says.
“Being able to go and learn from somebody that’s basically a master has been pretty amazing,” she said.
She says they’ve learned an “old school way of framing.”
“It’s not all about every single bottom dollar. It’s about connection with community,” she said. “It’s about being there and providing a service.”
Heather says she’s happy to provide an affordable family-run place where folks can reliably get their art and have it framed too.
“It’s a one-stop-shop for pictures and art and framing and everything,” Heather said.
The Frame Shop is located at 2368 Ingleside Avenue and it's open from Tuesday to Saturday.