62
September 7 – 20, 2013
Arts
www.SanTanSun.com
SunDust Gallery and Art Center moves to Gilbert BY MEGHAN MCCOY
SunDust Gallery and Art Center owner Ron Floyd moved his business from Mesa to Gilbert with the customer in mind. “We are really excited, this is a great thing,” he says about the decision to move to 207 E. Williams Field Rd., Building H, Suites 102-103. “We are getting such a good response from everybody.” Many of his customers have already shared their excitement about painting in the new location. After all, 70% of his customers travel from Gilbert and Chandler. “We wanted to move to where our customers actually lived,” he explains. The construction of the light rail in downtown Mesa, which is expected to continue for the next two years, was also a contributing factor in the move. “A lot of our customers are complaining about barricades and road closures,” Floyd says, adding that many of them failed to return. In addition, Floyd explains that he wants to expand the retail side of the business. Although the new location is about the same size, it has more of an open floor plan, as well as a kitchen. “It allows us to make things fit better,” he says, as well as have ice cream cakes and cold drinks for birthday parties. The business opened four years ago in downtown Mesa, so Floyd could cross the item off his bucket list. As a retired
PAINT AND WINE: SunDust Gallery and Art Center offers BYOB paint parties for the community. They have been a huge hit among the gallery’s customers. Submitted photo ON THE MOVE: SunDust Gallery and Art Center moved its business to 207 E. Williams Field Rd., Gilbert, on Tues., Sept. 3. Submitted photo
art professor, the gallery and art center provides him with the opportunity to stay in the art world. Although the gallery showcases many local artists from the East Valley and Arizona, a large portion of its business focuses on the studio. “We are a kind of an art center,” he says. “We have some funky stuff...local art that adds to the ambiance that makes you feel like you are in a real art studio.” For example, the studio offers Walk in & Paint during regular business hours. “We get a lot of families with kids that come in and adults that want to experience painting in a studio environment,” he says.
He encourages parents to bring in their children to indulge in art. Floyd says his center has a lot of books with images to help its customers decide what they want to paint. He says gallery employees will help their customers sketch the image. BYOB paint parties have become a huge hit for SunDust Gallery. In that creative opportunity, individuals paint for two hours while sipping their wine. Because the party typically sells out quickly with 30 to 40 people attending, registration is required. Those who participate must be at least 21 years old. With the new location in Gilbert, Floyd says they will be able to offer
BYOB paint parties on additional nights. Normally the class is held on Friday and Saturday night from 7-9 p.m. Additional opportunities will be held on Thursday night, as well as Friday afternoon for Happy Hour painting. Floyd also hopes to expand his classes in clay, painting, drawing, jewelry and creating clay pots for children, teens and adults. For more information about SunDust Gallery and Art Center, which is located at the southeast corner of Gilbert and Williams Field roads, call (480) 464-6077 or visit www.sundustgallery.com. Meghan McCoy is the Neighbors section editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at meghan@ santansun.com.