CALL FOR ARTISTS: Blue Heron Gallery to Open on Sunday

plans to open on Sunday in the historic fire engine house building and the business still has space for artists who are intersted in displaying their work for sale.

Artists who want to sneak in before the store's opening can stop by on Saturday with a sample of their work and to fill out an application, owner Bette Langford said.

Sunday's opening will a "soft opening," Langford said. She and her daughter, Becky Luedcke, also plan to open Heron Bay Banquet Hall in the basement of the building, and that needs a few more weeks of renovations before it can launch; the group plans to have a grand opening celebration in July.

The historic fire engine house became available after the  moved to a new location. Historical society members had hoped the city would lease the building to the group for a $1 a year, similiar to an arrangement they have with the city for the , where the society . But the city said it needed to sell the building in order to pay for upgrades to the new senior center location.

Langford fell in love with the building because its historic charm.

"I love the architecture and the character of it, and the fact that it has the history … I looked at some other buildings in town but they didn’t have the history — that just has so much character," Landford said. 

The gallery is on the first floor of the building, and is expected to draw artists and customers from a wide range of talent and interests.

"We want to make it comfortable," Langford said. "We want it to be the kind of gallery where people are very at ease walking into, and feel that they can afford to buy the art — and it’s not high pressure. Everybody can have an opportunity to own a piece of art — that’s the idea, to reach the general public."

The gallery can accommodate between 50 and 80 artists, depending on how much space each artist would like; Anyone who is interested can email Langford at drifted_art@yahoo.com or contact the business at 262-268-0243.

The store plans to be open on Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.; Mondays and Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; it will be closed on Tuesdays. Hours will likely extend in July. The business' website is blueheronport.com, but is currently still under construction.