FARMINGTON — The Upcountry Artists Gallery and Learning Center has reopened in a new home.

The space at 161 Main St., the site of the former Wicked Gelato shop, will feature the work of area artists and provide space for members to teach and hold workshops and programs.

It’s open and people are coming in, member Kika Nigals said Friday while hanging paintings. A grand opening is planned for Oct. 4 and will include a community art project where everyone can participate.

With its high ceilings, wooden floors and light, freshly painted walls, many think the gallery is similar to what one might expect to find in New York or San Francisco, she said.

The artist group has leased the space from building owner John Moore.

“We’re here for at least a year,” she said.

 A new gelato business is expected to open in November at 168 Front St., a building also owned by Moore, according to a sign in the window. More details are expected soon. Wicked Gelato closed at the Main Street site this past spring.

Upcounty Artists opened the Gallery and Learning Center at 218 Broadway in May. Property owner William Marceau offered them the use of the space — the group only needed to pay for electricity.

The space, however, remained for lease, and the group ran the risk that the space could be rented. 

This summer, Susun Terese decided to reopen her clothing shop, Minikins, after leaving the downtown for several years. The space on Broadway fitted her needs.

Classes slowed down this summer as members pursued other options.

“There’s a huge slate of classes about to begin within the next couple weeks,” Nigals said.

On Monday nights, a session for still-life drawing or painting will be held. It’s open to all levels, and some instruction and critique will be provided, Nigals, the instructor, said.

An art bar, a space to play, experiment and discover art, is always open when the gallery and art center are open.

“The art bar is stocked with a variety of materials and mediums for you to paint, draw, sculpt, collage and more,” according to class descriptions.

Arts for Everybody, a series of short workshops offered every other Sunday starting Oct. 6, teaches the information needed to complete simple, everyday art projects, such as wrapped sea glass pendants, painted glass/ceramics, button rings and much more.

Mardy Bogar will offer a tile-painting workshop on Oct. 19. A mask-making workshop will take place before Halloween and ornament making will be offered in December.

There are also sessions planned to help people take a different look and approach to painting. These include painting in the round, where artists start on a canvas and rotate to a neighbor’s canvas after a certain amount of time. They continue to rotate to another canvas throughout the session, or they can try group painting, where everyone works on one large canvas.

A session called “Painting to Music” allows participants to paint what they hear according to how the music inspires or moves them.

In another session, they could try breaking down creative barriers by painting upside-down — a session that “turns painting on its head,” according to the class descriptions.

Registration and more information on the classes is available by contacting Upcountry Artists at [email protected] or by calling or texting 207-400-1124.

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