Bringing the arts to Allegany County: Studio 34fourteen debuts in Wellsville

Area art aficionados no longer have to take a long road trip to find the perfect piece to adorn their home or office.

A new art gallery and artist studio, Studio 34fourteen, is debuting in Wellsville on Friday with a grand opening ceremony from 4:30-8 p.m. The business is located at 3414 Riverside Dr. and features both an art gallery displaying the works of local and regional artists, as well as a personal studio space for founder Marshall Green.

Green, who works in ceramics and sculpture, said the space checked all the boxes for the new business. Studio 34fourteen sits across from the Kwik Fill on state Route 19 and shares a building with the Riverside Farmers Market.

“I looked at quite a few buildings and spent quite a few months looking for the right space, and nothing was seeming to work out without having to force the issue,” said Green. “This space kind of fell into my lap and I love the location. It’s on the most traveled road in Wellsville and it’s attached to a really nice Farmer’s Market that’s going to be growing and turning into a flourishing business over the next few years, so I felt that was a good pairing.”

Studio 34fourteen will make its debut featuring the work of Green; Glenn Zweygardt, an emeritus professor of sculpture from Alfred University; Marsha VanVlack, a Whitesville sculpture artist and art educator; Mike Griffin, a ceramic artist from Naples, New York; and John Merlino, an accomplished painter from Buffalo.

Green said the studio will curate the works of six to eight artists at a time, drawing from across upstate New York and northern Pennsylvania. He intends to highlight “medium end work” ranging in price from around $100 to $3,000-$4,000 that offers a “unique statement piece” for the home or office.

Green previously served as the executive director of the Wellsville Creative Arts Center and currently owns Top Entertainment DJ Service. Green has been involved in the arts for decades and found a strong local arts scene when he moved to Allegany County, which features the popular Artisans Tour each year.

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Studio 34fourteen will provide an outlet to highlight the work of local and regional artists who don’t often have a public venue to market their creations close to home.

“Some go to Alfred University and they end up loving the area and settle in Cattaraugus, Steuben or Allegany County. We have a lot of great talent,” said Green. “A lot of them exhibit in more of the bigger city markets, so my goal was to have a gallery space that mirrors that of a bigger city with that type of quality art, at the same time not competing with our local artisans and the local shops.”

Friday’s grand opening will include live acoustic music, a meet and greet with some of the exhibiting artists, hors d’oeuvres, self-guided tours of the space and a complimentary outdoor cigar bar.

Green said regular hours at the studio will be limited until September, when he will likely be open by appointment and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

“I’ve always had a passion for marketing and publicizing other artists and getting their work out there, so I felt this was a good blend of having both a studio space and an art gallery,” said Green. “It’s another reason to get local homeowners, businesses and also those who vacation here at our beautiful lakes to invest more in buying great art for their businesses or homes right here in Allegany County, rather than having to go to galleries in bigger cities.”

Chris Potter can be reached at cpotter@gannett.com or on Twitter @ChrisPotter413. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.