Jordan Beck | Daily Press East Ludington Gallery President Sandy Wilson shows off some of the works available at the gallery. Located in downtown Escanaba, East Ludington Gallery features art by dozens of Upper Peninsula-based artists.

Editor’s note: The Daily Press features a profile of an area business each week. This week’s featured business is East Ludington Gallery in Escanaba.

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By Jordan Beck

jbeck@dailypress.net

ESCANABA — Located in downtown Escanaba, East Ludington Gallery features art by dozens of Upper Peninsula-based artists.

Sandy Wilson, the gallery’s president, said it was founded by Barbara Symon, Dorie Henderson and Dian Zahner decades ago.

“Back in 1981, these three women … decided to open a co-op gallery, and they just recruited local artists,” Wilson said. When it opened, the gallery had 15 charter members.

Initially, East Ludington Gallery was located at 619 Ludington St. in Escanaba.

“We were down there … for 31 years,” Wilson said.

Since 2012, Wilson said the gallery has been located at 1007 Ludington St.

“This location is a much better location, mainly because we’re in the main shopping district,” she said, noting the presence of a stoplight nearby has encouraged pedestrians to stop and notice the gallery.

Things have been going well for East Ludington Gallery.

“Business has been very good here — slow in the winter months, of course,” Wilson said. The gallery’s busiest time of year is May through December.

Artists must be accepted before their work can be featured at the gallery.

“We’re a juried co-op … which means a prospective artist brings in a few pieces of their work and the voting members vote them in or out,” Wilson said. Currently, the gallery has 16 voting members.

According to Wilson, many different artists are featured at East Ludington Gallery.

“There is roughly 40 at any given time — it fluctuates,” she said. The majority of artists involved with the gallery are from the U.P.

A wide variety of artistic mediums are represented at the gallery. Wilson said these include watercolors, oil paintings, photography, fiber art, quilting, jewelry, woodworking, driftwood art, books, pottery, stained glass and blown glass.

Many of the pieces available at the gallery focus on the U.P.

“That stuff sells very well … but that is not everything we have in here,” Wilson said.

In addition to its location downtown, Wilson said East Ludington Gallery has artwork on display in other local establishments — including OSF HealthCare St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group’s medical wing, Delona Restaurant and Bishop Noa Home’s rehabilitation unit.

“We provide artwork to all of them, and they are all for sale,” she said.

Looking forward, Wilson said she would like to build on the lectures offered at East Ludington Gallery on the third Thursday of every month.

“We would like to expand to offer classes,” she said.

To learn more about the gallery, visit www.eastludingtongallery.com.