For the partners at The Avenue Art House, art is about the experience. Owner Yvonne Agee prides herself on providing Louisa residents with a positive atmosphere to learn and express themselves. 

     “When people leave here, and they’ve had a good time and have something they’ve made, I don’t care how simple or perfect it is,” Agee said. “That’s what we’re after.”

     Previously, Agee was located at Turn Up The Color Studio on Main Street. She was the sole proprietor, managing bookkeeping and the gallery by herself. When she approached the end of her lease at the Main Street space, she decided she needed a change.

     “I just had these four other artists that were very successful in my gallery,” Agee said. “Individually, I walked them into this space [the new location] because I wanted to see their response to forming a partnership and that’s kind of how this emerged.”

     Agee and the other business partners got help from Varsity Football coach Will Patrick and the football team as they moved from the previous space on Main Street to Church Avenue. 

     “Coach Patrick brought guys and trucks, and they moved us in an hour and a half,” Agee said. “It was so fast.”

     Before Agee chose the building on Church Street for the Avenue Art House, it was owned by many prominent families such as the Woolfolks, the Perkins, the Dickinsons, and the Purcells. It has served different uses since it was built in 1880, first as a home and then later as a business space. During that time, there was a spa, a clothing store, and a law office.

     “I went through the Historical Society, and we got some of the information from the Purcells, who currently own the building,” English teacher and business partner Helen Weddle said. “The Historical Society dug up deeds and different legal documents associated with the house and sale documents, then we all together put that into one.”

     Now that the business partners have moved into the new location, they are making the place their own. Each of the rooms in the Art House has a different purpose. Two classrooms, the Depot, and the Diamond, can be rented out for private events. Other rooms such as the Cyprus and the View function as galleries to display work created by local artists. In the basement, Agee hopes to develop a ceramics studio. 

     The business partners at the Avenue Art House each specialize in a different type of art. Weddle’s interests include book-binding, crocheting, and making postcards. 

     “I teach book-binding because that’s kind of an obsession of mine,” Weddle said. “I’m going to teach crochet every other Saturday, and I’m going to do a watercolor workshop for Halloween postcards.”

     Shari Bergquist, another business partner, has been studying neurographic art, which is an art style that consists of drawing freeform lines called neuro lines.

     “It’s self-therapy,” Bergquist said. “It’s the way you think as you draw the neuro lines.”

     The grand opening of the Avenue Art House is scheduled for October 12, and classes will start soon after. 

     “We’re gonna be successful because we want to share the experience of art,” Agee said. “I couldn’t care less how many of my paintings sell.”