It was love at first sight. A gallery owner from Bigfork, MT and an artist from Boulder,CO.  And it happened in Santa Fe, no less, the art capital of the west. After a winter of skiing in Aspen, John was in New Mexico interviewing artists for possible representation in Montana. What better partner could he have than Molly, a still life oil painter whose passion and love of the arts was contagious. So contagious, in fact, that within a week, both were drawing gallery expansion plans on paper napkins and mapping out their new lives. And so has begun another adventure in life for John & Molly who were married in Glacier National Park in the fall of 2006.

"Molly thought she would be skiing, climbing and trekking in Nepal and floating down the Colorado river," says John. But a new twist of fate has led both on a different sort of quest. "To both of us, our new goal is to create a wonderful and exciting gallery space in Montana representing artists who normally don't have representation this far north. There are so many dynamic artists in the west. We just love showing their art in one of the prettiest summer locations anywhere and that is Bigfork on Flathead Lake" pipes Molly. "Wow, I'm just blown away by the beauty of Glacier National Park, the mountain ranges and the huge lakes. It's a summer paradise."

Each day in the summer the gallery receives between 200-400 visitors, many of them art collectors. "It's such an unusual gallery" says Molly. "We have 7 big rooms plus a courtyard. We've added a full kitchen, two fireplaces, a wine bar and our gallery rental events are so different than the normal catered affair. If you want a great cocktail party or a sit-down dinner surrounded by hundreds of paintings and sculpture, then our gallery is for you."

John spent a career in the mountains of Switzerland, climbing, hiking and skiing. He liked it so much that he launched Swiss Challenge, a summer camp for adventurous American students and spent nearly 30 years of his life organizing fantastic adventures. Prior to that, he completed graduate school in Bruges, Belgium studying the impressionists. "My love of the Impressionist period from the 1880's through the turn of the century was very influential on my life. My parents had given me a couple of hundred dollars to buy them a European landscape painting back in 1966. Instead, I bought my first painting from Gino Hollander, an abstract artist from New York and Spain, now living in Aspen. They hated it and refused to hang it. So they gave it back and it's in my collection. It's increased 100 times since I bought it. That got my attention for entering the art world."

Molly graduated from the University of Colorado in Fine Arts and has pursued a career in illustration, graphic design and painting. (See Art Consulting tab on our website). She has a love for art and people, a perfect combination. "My gosh, we not only have added 50 artists to our expanded gallery space, we have added beautiful leather sofas, chairs, antler chandeliers, Austrian painted furniture and antique tribal rugs. And don't forget our wine bar," she adds with a smile. "Come on down for a visit. You'll be pleasantly surprised and might just stay a while."

“Our latest venture is the expansion of another year round gallery in Sun Valley, ID”, appropriately named Sun Valley Contemporary which is located at 511 East Fourth Street in Ketchum adjacent to the ‘farmers market’ on the newly renovated Heritage Corridor. The space consists of two charming spaces separated by a Tuscan Courtyard and will be fully operational by late summer 2008. We welcome all residents and visitors of Sun Valley and Ketchum to join us as we bring new and exciting Artists to the valley. Sun Valley Contemporary and Sacred Dancing Gallery will host a series of art exhibitions during the Art Walks in Sun Valley. (See Exhibition tab to the Art Walk schedule.)