| Paula Baldoni (left) and Dr. E. Dorinda Shelley at Library House Antiques & Art (Photo: J.D. Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune) |
GRAND RAPIDS – A new gallery in the village is opening with an exhibit of paintings of familiar landmarks
by an old friend.
A reception marking the opening of "American Impressionist: Earl W. North" will be held
Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. at Library House Antiques & Art, 24122 Front St.
The gallery, which opened earlier this month, is a new venture by Dr. E. Dorinda Shelley, a retired
dermatologist, who lives in Grand Rapids. It’s just one of several businesses she and her business
partner Alan Wishner, has is planning to launch recently.
It’s part of an effort to bolster the village, which she noted has in the past couple year has lost its
pharmacy, grocery store and elementary school. The village is "at a tipping point," she said.
"We’re trying to give it a boost."
The businesses collectively carry the Library House name and include a children’s used bookshop and a
contemporary art gallery. A used bookshop in the former Dandy’s Lane that will serve coffee and fudge is
in the works as is a shop for teen books.
Shelley also recently purchased the two buildings that formerly housed Couzins restaurant.
The space housing the new gallery has been an antique shop for years, Shelley said. But the proprietor
had another job, and couldn’t devote much time to it. It ended being open only during Apple Butter Fest.
She approached Paula Baldoni and her husband, William Jordan, who operate the River House Gallery in
downtown Perrysburg, about developing a gallery.
The space needed a lot of work, but now it’s neatly separated into a gallery on one side and a selection
of antiques and collectibles on the other.
Baldoni said this offers a way to expand her gallery’s efforts into more traditional arts. River House
has featured exhibits of contemporary art.
The work of Earl North, who lived his entire life up the road in Haskins, was an appropriate way to mark
the opening.
Though well-known in local art circles, his work hasn’t been exhibited much.
Early last year the Wood County Library hosted a month-long exhibit of his paintings.
For the Library House exhibit, Shelley and Baldoni worked with the artist’s son Frank North. While
there’s a few New England and northern Michigan scenes, most of the work focuses in Northwest Ohio.
"It really is a gift to have such a high caliber artist painting these familiar scenes,"
Baldoni said. "We’re really, really fortunate."
Baldoni’s mother had extensive family connections in Haskins, so Earl North paintings were often given as
gifts, and she remembers visiting his studio.
Born in 1904, North first started painting in 1926 and began exhibiting work in 1932, when one of his
paintings was included in the Toledo Area Artists Exhibition at the Toledo Museum of At. He continued
painting until his death in 1989.
He painted daily, Shelley said. And "apparently Earl North was a fanatic about getting the light
right."
She added, "it’s too bad he hasn’t had the recognition he deserves."
The Library House Antiques and Art exhibit of North paintings continues through Sept. 25. After that the
gallery will host an exhibit of the Athena Society in October.
