Genny Gordy never tires of showing off the renovations and intricacies of the framing store and gallery she and her husband Brian have co-owned for the past 20 years.
A partitioned wall in the front of the store is saved for antique and recreated frame corners, meant for customers to peruse and admire
The shop's dustiest and noisiest rooms, where the frame cutting and gilding takes place in the back of the store, houses the largest table in Muncie and a flashing red light connected to the front door's electronic chime system.
Several layers of wallpaper are peeled back along the showroom's 50-foot interior perimeter - lined with the framed works of artists with a local connection and from as far away as Sweden - to reveal the raw cement the original builder intended the space to have.
"It really is kind of like a Willy Wonka place," Genny said as the lights flashed during a recent shop tour.
When the Gordys purchased the building - then the original Art Mart - in the summer of 1989, they primarily sold art supplies and had plans to make only a few changes.
Several tweaks later, the shop was renamed Gordy Fine Art and Framing Company to better reflect the business operations.
Now entering their 20th year of business, the Gordys are still remodeling in an effort to flip three production rooms to suit the needs of their framing and gilding services and are working to develop the vitality of the downtown art scene.
"We never left. We just keep morphing," Genny said.
The Gordys' passion for art began well before college, but it was the Ball State art department that sealed the deal.
Both came to Ball State in the 1970s to pursue majors in art education, so Genny said it was only natural the two would meet in a class through the department.
"We fell in love in front of everybody and married right after we left the art department," she said.
Former Ball State art professor Jim Faulkner shows artwork at Gordys and remembers the pair as energetic, involved and interested students when he had them in class.
"They were always doing a little more than necessary," he said. "Sometimes when they weren't in class they would be working on independent projects."
It was Faulkner who encouraged Brian to stay in art production rather than education.
"I thought he would be better as a painter than a teacher," Faulkner said. "There aren't many great producers around. He was and is always good at producing impressive watercolors."
Pursuing a dream
After graduating from Ball State, Genny and Brian planned to return to Muncie so the two could complete master's degrees. Had it not been for Ball State and the development of Muncie's downtown art scene, the couple may not have stayed in Muncie for long.
"Our thing was always, 'Oh we're going to move to Portland, [Ore.] to find the perfect place,' and then we just never did. Art and our lives were always just right here in Muncie," Genny said.
Neither Genny nor Brian were originally from East Central Indiana: Genny grew up in Lafayette and Brian in Monticello.
Upon graduation the couple married and moved to teach in Rochester, Ind., and take classes at Purdue University. They returned when Genny landed a job teaching at Burris Laboratory School and Brian began work at a Muncie design firm.
Brian also pointed to the importance of Ball State in their lives as what drew them back to stay for good.
"We wouldn't live here if it weren't a university town," Brian said.
Genny and Brian bought the original Art Mart downtown when the original owners announced their retirement, leaving the Gordys with the downtown store and another art supply business, The Annex, in the Village.
In the pursuit of Brian's dream to own a shop dedicated wholly to framing, the couple sold the Village store to their friend and former classmate Karen Fisher about five years ago and renamed the downtown store Gordys Fine Art and Framing.
"We wanted to get more into art," Genny said. "Interest in picture framing is like some people's interest in antique cars, famous works of art or collecting jars or coins. You can just go in and go in and go into it."
The Village's Art Mart manager Karen Fisher graduated from Ball State with Brian and Genny in the '70s and worked at the downtown store when it was converted from an art supply store to framing shop.
"When I was there they didn't have facilities to do gold leafing, so I'm glad Brian had the opportunity to expand and follow his dream," she said. "We have always supported each other's local businesses."
Constant collaboration
Genny said the Gordy connection to Ball State and the downtown art scene has always been and still is strong.
"Now everything is happening for us in Muncie. We are so deeply rooted," she said.
The couple rents out a house to art students in town where Ball State professors have been known to drop by on occasion, sometimes with easels set up to paint sunflowers or tools to make large sculptures in the garage.
Over the years they have run about 30 art students through their two businesses, and they have always maintained a working relationship with Ball State's art faculty in supporting what professors tell their students to buy.
The vitality and promise of the downtown art scene was also a major factor in what influenced them to stay in Muncie.
The arts community in Muncie has always existed, Genny said, but as of 10 years ago there were no galleries in town.
"We had fabulous local artists who would show in different countries even, but they couldn't show here because there wasn't any venue for contemporary pieces," Genny said.
To fill the void, she and a small group of artists started a place for emerging and mid-career artists at Gallery 308, originally Mitchell Place Gallery, in 2000.
Both Genny Gordy and Karen Fisher are on the board of directors for Gallery 308.
"It really shows our commitment to making people aware of art. In order to have a better place to live in, the arts have to be pretty important in our lives," Fisher said.
Since Gallery 308 opened on Main Street, eight art venues have opened downtown, including 111 Arts Gallery, The Artist Within, Artworks Gallery and Cornerstone Center for the Arts.
Gordy Fine Art and Framing also participates in ArtsWalk, an annual collaboration with Ball State and downtown Muncie. Typically held the first Thursday of October, the event was pushed up to Sept. 24 this year to coordinate with the Governor's Art Awards.
"The arts community here is very robust now. It's the creation of this scene that's made that happen," Brian said. "We're so glad to be a part of it."
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