NEBRASKA CITY-  Artist Honey Lynn Self expanded and reshaped her art gallery in downtown Nebraska City  to enable her favorite vocation of helping others discover their knack for the arts.

From a construction viewpoint, the transformation gives Self Expressions Gallery twice as much retail space to display the works of over 50 local artists but there is also new space for a regionwide artistic invitation.

Self: “As an artist I want to create. I want to teach people how to create and that kind of got lost in the shuffle with running an art gallery, so when that became available my thought was how can I make this the business side over here and that the party side. That’s what my vision way, to make it so people could come in here and pick out a project at any time of the day. No matter what, if we’re open you can come in here, pick out a project and do it.”

The gallery features weekly art classes, hundreds of ceramic molds, a hand-built pottery workshop and soon pottery wheel instruction.

 

 

Self: “We also have a new lady that is coming in January. She’s going to teach people how to do the pottery wheel and one-on-one classes, so that’s going to be something that has not been offered – that I know of – ever here.”

People who buy clay from the store can use the gallery’s kiln, which is largest manufactured by Skutt and is described as the largest in the region.

Self said the popular splatter room, where people can suit up with protective aprons to paint a 16x20 canvass, and the pottery opportunities takes the gallery from a place to display local art to a place where art is generated.

Self: “We thought if we could just make it interactive for the people to get inspiration on this side and go over there and actually create their own. That’s what we wanted.”

 

Self: “To get people to come in and maybe even find that they do have talents that they didn’t even know they had.”

Self Expressions Gallery has become a champion in Nebraska City’s emerging creative district.