Art? Bella Gallery Opens
by February 19, 2001 12:00 am 177 views
Owners: Bobby Joe and
Karen Edmonds
Address: 212 W. Dickson St.,
Fayetteville 72701
Phone: 501-251-1110
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Monday-Saturday
Start-up date:
Feb. 16
E-mail address:
Former University of Arkansas halfback Bobby Joe Edmonds and his wife, Karen Edmonds, have opened an upscale art gallery on Dickson Street. Filling a 3,000-SF corner space in the new Three Sisters building, Arté Bella offers paintings and sculptures from nationally renowned artists such as Frederick Hart, Peter Max and David Miller.
The gallery offers a minimum of eight Hart pieces priced between $2,000 and $16,000. Small versions of Hart’s most famous works, such as the soldier sculptures at the Vietnam War Memorial, are available at Arté Bella, Karen Edmonds said. Other pieces in the main gallery cost as much as $200,000.
Start-up costs for the business were steep, Edmonds said, because she purchased most of the artworks to sell in the gallery. More than $1 million of works are displayed in the showroom.
The Edmondses also offer a smaller, more casual gallery with less expensive pieces. Designed to entice college students, the second gallery displays more modern works.
Karen Edmonds said she also wants to use some of the space to display student works.
About 700 SF of the shop was set aside for studio art classes, Edmonds said, and she plans to begin hosting classes with guest artists by late March.