Sep 21, 2012 By Kyle Edwards, For The Greene County Messenger 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – After two months of operation, the Artbeat gallery in downtown Waynesburg will hold its grand opening celebration on Friday, Sept. 28 from 6 to 9 p.m.

“August really isn’t a good time for this sort of thing,” said Linda Winegar, co-owner of the fine art/fine craft gallery. “People are going on end-of-the-summer vacations, sending kids back to school and other things like that, and we had some craft shows that we had going on in the months since we’ve opened, so we decided to delay the celebration until the end of September. We didn’t want to have the opening celebration at a time when not a whole lot of people could find the time to attend.”

The fine art/fine craft gallery, located on the corner of High and Church streets, is owned and operated by Linda and her husband, Jim. The Winegars are potters whose home and pottery studio, Winegar Pottery, is located in Graysville.

The couple said that they have been involved with other galleries over the years, which is what made them want to open a gallery of their own.

“We know a lot of people who are artists, so we just wanted to provide them with an opportunity to sell their work in Greene County,” Linda Winegar said. “We believe that people should have unique artwork in their homes. We wanted to provide a place for artists to sell their work and a place where the people of Greene County could come and buy that work.”

During the grand opening celebration, food and light refreshments will be provided by Rising Creek Bakery and the Dan Baker Quartet will perform Jazz music throughout the event.

“It’s just a great opportunity for people to come in, check out the artwork, listen to music, meet some of the artists and talk to them about their work,” said Linda Winegar.

Fischer Antiques, located on Church St., behind the gallery will also be open during the event, said Jim Winegar.

“While the Fischer store displays antiques and heirlooms, we hope people will think of our gallery as having the ‘heirlooms of tomorrow,’ he said.

“We believe that surrounding yourself with creative objects that emanate from the pulse of the maker provides an energy that gives life meaning.”

Everything in the gallery is handmade. Artwork in the gallery includes pottery, oil paintings, pastels and watercolors, photography, prints, wood assemblages, fused glass, jewelry, baskets, fine woodwork, hand-woven clothing, heritage yarns and handmade soaps.

For more information, call the gallery at 724-833-9058.