Art Box hopes move downtown boosts visibility

The 12th Street skyline won’t look quite the same once The Art Box reopens at a new location there on July 6 — and classes begin on the roof.

Anne Ganong, owner of The Art Box, is moving her store from Jefferson Street to the corner of Grace and 12th streets, which she said will increase visibility and “create the art programs we’re dying to create.”

Workshops and seminars will develop during the first several months. “There’ll be classes to teach people to stretch canvas or learn about a particular medium,” Ganong said.

She was surprised to learn that Stanhope Johnson, a prominent Lynchburg architect, designed the building in 1924.

“He’s responsible for many historical buildings in Lynchburg,” said Ganong.

The second floor offers enough space for seven studios. Large windows, 6 feet by 6 feet, ensure each studio space has natural light.

There’s a dramatic increase in overall space, too, from 1,330 square feet to 7,500 square feet.

That’s not counting the roof, where Ganong also plans to hold classes.

She smiled as she revealed her planned slogan: “Painting out, painting in, and painting on.”

The increased space also allows the store to feature more of the same and a few things it didn’t have enough room for before.

“It’s likely we’ll have pre-made canvas,” said Ganong. The store also will expand the kid’s section and offer more office supplies and gift-wrap.

The Art Box is already packed with both student-grade and high-end art supplies. Ganong said she believes the high-end merchandise is what has helped the independent art store survive.

Customers come from Roanoke, Farmville and Smith Mountain Lake to get their art supplies. “There’s just no other place to get (high-end) materials,” Ganong said.

Craig Pleafants, program director at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst County, said that before The Art Box opened in Lynchburg, “The fellows … used to have to have art supplies shipped from New York.”

Pleafants began shopping at The Art Box in Charlottesville before Ganong branched out to Lynchburg. All of the artists, he said, know about The Art Box from “a really good strong word-of-mouth communication.”

Artists from around the world, Ganong said, compliment her store during their visits to the VCCA.

“They’re always surprised by how well-rounded our selection is,” she said.

One of the goals for The Art Box is “to be really tied into the community,” Ganong said, by offering “a place for people to display their art.”

She hopes it develops into a “thriving and exciting place where kooky stuff is happening all the time.”