Fun or fine art? New shared gallery space plants roots in downtown Marine City

Rose Gottler, of the Painted Toad, stands with work examples she shares with clients on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at a new spaces she shares with New Century Art Gallery at 312 S. Water St.
Rose Gottler, of the Painted Toad, stands with work examples she shares with clients on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at a new spaces she shares with New Century Art Gallery at 312 S. Water St.

An invisible line separates disciplines in a newly shared gallery space in downtown Marine City.

“( Jeanne Burris-Johnson) is fine art, so she sells fine art. I’m fun art. I teach people how to paint,” Rose Gottler, who runs the Painted Toad, said Thursday with a laugh.

Once an on-the-move operation for mobile events, the Painted Toad was headquartered from Gottler's house. Gottler said she’s glad now to lead from a different address — suite 4 behind the Sweet Tooth at 312 S. Water St., where she and Burris-Johnson, a co-founder of New Century Art Gallery, co-mingle.

They opened up shop there last month, and so far, they said response to the physical space has been great. Unlike the Painted Toad, however, New Century was previously located at the Mariner theater.

“I was the director of programs and operations at Art Studio 1219 (in Port Huron), so a lot of those artists followed us over. We’ll be having fine art classes,” Burris-Johnson said. “It’s really exciting. Even when we moved into the Mariner, it was exciting to have a physical space. It’s great to have the online. We do sell online. We have done classes and stuff online. But it’s not the same as people having the experience to come in and see the work. Maybe meet some of the artists at times. … Although online is the future — it really is.”

Art work is on display on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at New Century Art Gallery, which shares the space with the Painted Toad at 312 S. Water St., in Marine City.
Art work is on display on Thursday, March 16, 2023, at New Century Art Gallery, which shares the space with the Painted Toad at 312 S. Water St., in Marine City.

What does the gallery space have available?

Burris-Johnson, who also works as director of the Marine City Area Chamber of Commerce, said she works with 28 different artists.

As of last week, a variety of paintings and other works, such as welded airplane sculptures, were on display.

There is “always new stuff coming in,” Burris-Johnson said, as they switch art out about every two weeks.

In addition to occasional classes, she said they’ve also worked on a mentorship with youth on the business of art, culminating in an exhibition.

While New Century’s classes are smaller, Gottler said the space at 312 S. Water St. had enough room for 16 to 20 people. Gottler operates out of the more open part of the gallery with an array of smaller still-life and nature paintings — complex and stroke work, and the kind she likes to instruct toward

Rose Gottler, of the Painted Toad, and Jeanne Burris-Johnson, of New Century Art Gallery, pictured on Thursday, March 16, 2023, share a space at 312 S. Water St. in downtown Marine Cit.
Rose Gottler, of the Painted Toad, and Jeanne Burris-Johnson, of New Century Art Gallery, pictured on Thursday, March 16, 2023, share a space at 312 S. Water St. in downtown Marine Cit.

“It’s the kind of stuff you would want to hang on your wall and be proud of,” Burris-Johnson said of the work produced in Gottler’s classes.

Gottler described previously traveling to a variety of on-site locations, particularly area wineries, for events. These days, she said she’s looking forward to a host of events from the shared space. That was to include painting and DIY craft classes set for this week. Painting classes were posted with a $38 cost with that ranging from $25 to $40 for crafts.

“I’m really excited about being in this community. Being a mobile art studio, I traveled around the multiple communities in the area, and Marine City just kind of welcomed me. … And there’s a lot of wonderful, supportive, positive business people here," Gottler said.

The posted hours for New Century are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, and 2 to 4 p.m. Monday, noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday, and 6 to 9 p.m. for the Painted Toad. Gottler said those will likely change seasonally.

For more information on either art outfit, visit their Facebook pages under The Painted Toad and New Century Art Gallery.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Fun or fine art? New shared gallery space plants roots in downtown Marine City