Derek Gores to create colorful 'mini art center' on Highland Avenue in downtown Eau Gallie
When Derek Gores owned his art studio on West Eau Gallie Boulevard from 2014-18, he recalls creating collage art by day, pushing items to the side so Not Quite Right Improv could enter at night, and "sweeping up" the place for First Fridays and gallery shows.
Now, Gores and his wife, Cassandra Wyzik, plan to transform a triple-storefront building into an eclectic, multi-themed "mini art center" on Highland Avenue, in the heart of downtown Eau Gallie's commercial district.
This is the building that houses Ralph's Art Supply. The owner, longtime merchant Ralph Sanders, is retiring — and passing the proverbial torch — and selling the structure after a 28-year run. Gores hopes to close on the purchase on Sept. 21.
"This is my first foray into this kind of world," Gores said.
Gores' colorful game plan:
He'll work with Sanders' distributors and continue selling art supplies inside the store at 1420 Highland Ave. Gores will also create a new "nostalgic general-store feel" and add locally inspired retail products.
A future complementary tenant will replace Art Abilities, a glass-pottery studio in the southernmost storefront.
Gores will open his gallery and art workshop inside the middle storefront, which previously housed Causeway Records. He plans to host evening creative classes led by visiting artists.
"This is an area the Foosaner (Art Museum) could have exploited. There's a whole network. There are people who travel to take classes. So we intend to have a robust schedule of visiting teachers in many art forms," Gores said.
"I want my place to be a place of discovery, where you can come and learn and get hands-on and have an experience. Something fresh for the mind all the time," he said.
Built in 1955, the building houses 4,884 square feet of floor space. Gores did not divulge the purchase price, saying the sale remains pending.
Gores is an innovative New Contemporary Movement collage artist whose clients range from the NFL and ESPN to Lenny Kravitz and Van Halen to Heineken and Prada.
In 2017, Gores designed the Playboy cover for the magazine's 120-page special-edition issue featuring founder Hugh Hefner. In December, Porsche commissioned him to create the company's art-installation car display at Art Basel Miami.
Gores exhibited in December at SCOPE Art Show in Miami Beach, and he hosted a solo show in February at Galley 14 in Vero Beach. Today, he estimated about ⅓ of his revenues come from local art sales, ⅓ come from out-of-town exhibitions, and ⅓ come from commissions.
Since 2018, Gores has worked from his “semi-secret studio” in a Cypress Avenue plaza, on the west side of U.S. 1.
Gores and Sanders have played major roles in the revitalization of the Eau Gallie Arts District, which emerged in 2000 or thereabouts as a branded catalyst to replace blight with creative economic development. In fact, Gores said Sanders has been labeled "the mayor of Eau Gallie."
Gores is former president of the EGAD board of directors, while Sanders is former chairman of Eau Gallie's Community Redevelopment Agency advisory board. In that capacity, Sanders helped guide the 2002-07 transformation of a weedy vacant lot into Eau Gallie Square, a city park featuring a bandshell.
Sanders' store was formerly called Art Supply of Melbourne. Now 70, he said he plans to enter retirement by traveling — "something I've held back on for 30 years."
When Sanders moved in during the 1990s, he said Eau Gallie already boasted an artistic environment: the second-hand Eau Gallie Bookstore; the Fiddler's Dream violin venue; Kevin Roberts' Intimate Images photo studio; the Horn Section musical instrument store; Community Harvest Natural Foods Market.
Zoning regulations and the Great Recession slowed development of EGAD for years, but Sanders and Gores said the community is now thriving.
"What we were missing, and is starting to come now, is we never really had a restaurant. We never had anyplace to go drink. Or to go meet. We didn’t have a park back then," Sanders said.
Gores produced the Dreamland Miniature Golf & More pop-up art installation inside the shuttered Foosaner Art Museum, which offered an array of activities from April through June. With the building purchase, he said he plans to build on the history of Ralph’s Art Supply and Eau Gallie's surrounding art-centric district as a whole.
"To me, we got traction when we opened up our eyes to what creativity includes. Once we did, we set our sights on getting a cool coffee shop (Anaya). That's their art," Gores said.
"Intra — I mean, they've done like 700 different brews," he said, referring to Intracoastal Brewing Co., which opened in 2013. "They could probably do five and be thrilled and just make money, but they keep going with their creativity. That's their art." he said.
"We've got Standard Collective on the corner, and their nod in all the different art forms, like fashion. We've got some architects in the neighborhood, and hair salons. Once you string that together as a story, you realize it's kind of that slice of city culture from shop to shop," he said.
Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1
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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Eau Gallie artist Derek Gores to launch Highland Avenue art center
