Ellu Gallery: “Life is drab without art”
ELLU GALLERY OFFERS AN EXCITING approach to viewing, buying and living with art. The 5,000 sq.-ft. modern and contemporary art gallery opened quietly in late 2015 in Grass Valley. The Gallery hosts events, impromptu small-scale musical performances and other gatherings.
It epitomizes the booming art gallery scene in our area, which includes Art Works Gallery and Artists’ Studio in the Foothills in Grass Valley, LeeAnn Brook Fine Art Gallery & Studio in Nevada City, and Art Obsessions in Truckee, among others.
Ellu Gallery owner, curator and artist Ryan McVay sees the gallery providing a new resource for the area’s homeowners, artists and community members, as well as a broader reach to fine art collectors.
Visitors will find mixed media, oil, acrylic, hot glass artworks, fine woodworking and sculpture. The artists are crossover artists, which means many of them work extensively in many mediums from paint, textiles, glass and wood.
“We have real collaboration in the building,” says McVay. “Part of my motivation for the gallery was to have a huge studio, so I have no size limitations to express creativity.”
McVay’s passion for art is intertwined with the outdoors. Surfing and snowboarding led him from Oregon to Colorado, Montana, Lake Tahoe, Hawaii and Nevada County. Truckee draws snowboarders from across the country to Nevada County, a place McVay remembered when he chose to build a home and raise his family several years ago.
“I’ve always pushed the boundaries. In Hawaii, we created one of the first pop-up galleries, rather than a brick and mortar destination,” says McVay. “Now we’re pioneering a destination gallery concept that weaves social and music events, surrounded by a fine art experience.”
Ellu Gallery sees itself filling a unique niche, creating large-scale contemporary art work for homes, corporate art collections and commissions, as well as applying artwork to stylish, functional objects, such as surfboards, skateboards and clothing. “Life is drab without art, and art is only an object without the viewer’s connection,” says McVay.
Artist Reception
April 22, 5-7 p.m.
Open House
April 23
11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Artist Reception
May 14, 5-7 p.m.
Artist Reception
July 20, 5-7 p.m.
For more information visit ElluGallery.com.
342 Idaho Maryland Rd.
Grass Valley CA 95945
(Photo: Curator Ryan McVay, left, and sales consultant Rick Baron with acrylic on wood panel, Pocket of Time).