Meet Sylvia & Wayne Jennings | Medora Art Gallery Owners

We had the good fortune of connecting with Sylvia & Wayne Jennings and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Sylvia & Wayne, how does your business help the community?
Our mission is to encourage people to live artfully. When we celebrate artists, nurture creativity and create community, we are living artfully. We believe that art is at the center of who we are as human beings. We are striving to infuse art into our daily experiences out of the belief that creative expression is essential, and the desire to have a beautiful environment is universal. Medora’s product is inspiration.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?

Our art gallery business started from a need . We had a problem to solve, and that was, how to fill the vacant retail building we bought in late 2020. We had purchased the building next door to use for our new office, and the vacant building was included. My husband, Wayne, and I were thrilled with the idea of fixing up the space and being part of the transformation of historic Canon City, but it was in the middle of COVID, and the chances of attracting the right tenant seemed bleak. The more brainstorming we did, the more excited we got about a concept that would combine fine art, gifts and home goods. Wouldn’t it be great if the business next door offered beautiful things that enhance Main Street and complement the home? And after that, we were like a dog with a bone. Nothing else would do.

Once we decided to launch the business, the rest just fell into place. Our curator had a lifetime of relationships with talented artists who would fill our space with beautiful work. Before long, we had an amazing selection of fine art, pottery, Navajo jewelry, crafts, art glass and fiber art. We were in business!

We’re still learning and growing, but we are so grateful to our many genius, beautiful collaborators and artists who have contributed to our success. At the beginning, there were many reasons to say no to this venture, and very few reasons to say yes.

If you don’t listen to your internal guidance system and take leaps of faith, you’re not experiencing life at it’s juiciest. I think we’re here to learn how to love ourselves unconditionally so we can truly love each other, and that means giving ourselves some grace. So what if you try something and it doesn’t work? That’s not failure. It’s a great learning experience. If you’re not growing, you’re dead.

Medora’s mission is to encourage people to live artfully. When we celebrate artists, nurture creativity and create community, we are living artfully. We believe that art is at the center of who we are as human beings. We are striving to infuse art into our daily experiences out of the belief that creative expression is essential, and the desire to have a beautiful environment is universal. Medora’s product is inspiration.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We love Denver, Colorado Springs. Canon City, Florence, Westcliffe, Pueblo, and Woodland Park! This region has fantastic outdoor recreation, amazing local businesses, so much more!

If you’re able to spend several days in Colorado, consider treasures like the Denver Botanic Gardnes, https://www.botanicgardens.org/,

We would also encourage friends to visit the Garden of the Gods and other beautiful natural treasures. https://gardenofgods.com/

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We want to thank George Sánchez, our longtime friend and curator. He’s an amazing artist, mentor and creative collaborator. From our opening show, featuring New Mexico artist Mary Moore Bailey, Medora has offered outrageously original fine art, and we’ve been selling art and helping local artists.

George enables us to engage with the artists and the community. He curates a new exhibition every month, and we have a reception for our featured artist each as part of Cañon City’s First Friday Art Walk. The Artists’ Gallery, Fremont Center for the Arts (FCA), as well as downtown shops and restaurants all participate in Art Walk and it’s really exciting to see attendance growing. Cañon City as a community has provided us with incredible support. The people here appreciate art and want to support small businesses.

Website: https://medoracolorado.com/

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