ST. LOUIS — City Foundry in Midtown is adding to its retail offerings with the opening of Vacancy Gallery — a street art gallery owned by Gerad Ewing, Chase Callahan and Melo Rosario. Ewing and Callahan already own Sanctioned Sneaker Collective located at City Foundry.
Vacancy Gallery will showcase underrepresented talent in the St. Louis community and will feature magazine-style collages, printed photo work from local well-known photographers, jewelry pieces and graffiti artwork, officials said. All artwork inside the gallery is available for purchase by the public.
"We are trying to help fill the voids within our community when it comes to helping local artists reach more of the general public," Ewing said in a statement. "After being a tenant of City Foundry STL already, we've seen a multitude of people come through Sanctioned Sneaker Collective from all walks of life because like art, sneakers are a common thread that unites people."
The owners will host a grand opening celebration from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. The first 360 attendees will receive a free piece of artwork. The event is free and open to the public.
In addition to showcasing artwork, the 1,139-square-foot gallery will give back to the St. Louis community by partnering with St. Louis Crisis Nursery. A wall inside the space is dedicated to artwork created by children from the nonprofit organization and will be sold at a flat rate of $50. All proceeds from those sales will go directly to the organization, officials said.
"The art showcased in Vacancy Gallery and the artists that create those inspirational pieces are another facet of how we connect the community around us with new experiences that leave a lasting impression," Will Smith, managing director for New + Found, which developed City Foundry, said in a statement.
Read the rest of the story on the St. Louis Business Journal website.
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