Not Just Another Building: Fine Line Opens Additional Gallery Space

The former woodworking shop-turned-gallery space, now part of Fine Line Designs Gallery in Ephraim.

In May of 2014, a quaint rustic building adjacent to Fine Line Designs Gallery on Ephraim’s north side went up for sale. The 1,900-square-foot building, whose exterior mirrored the gallery that has long stood next to it, began its life as a garage before being converted into a woodworking shop and showroom.

Many add-ons have brought it to its current form, and this summer, a little tender loving care helped it through its most recent incarnation as additional gallery space for the artists of Fine Line Designs Gallery.

Last spring, Fine Line owner Shari Gransee knew purchasing the building was a good opportunity, though it would be another eight months before she knew exactly why.

“It just popped into my head, ‘Why don’t we use it as more gallery space?’” Gransee recalled. “We have a captive audience coming here to look at art and our artists provide us with a lot more work than we can put out.”

That’s not to say stepping into the two-room building, with its 10-foot ceilings, carpeted floor and sliding door separating a front showroom from a dusty workshop, automatically registered gallery in her mind. In fact, it took the help of Washington Island architect Mike Kickbush and Sister Bay contractor Fred Whalen to help Gransee see the potential.

The larger of two rooms in the new gallery space at Fine Line.

From mid-March to its debut July 4, Gransee, Kickbush, Whalen and a host of local tradesmen pulled the old carpet, removed the sliding door, and raised the roof (literally) to give Fine Line Designs Gallery a space that balanced continuation of the main gallery with a more contemporary feel.

“We wanted to make it different than the current gallery so that people had a reason to come over,” Gransee said. “If you have things the same, then they may not be as curious. By making it totally different, when they come in they’re going to get another different viewing experience and that’s what we wanted to do.”

The additional 1,100-square-foot gallery includes two open rooms, the larger of which has a 17-foot cathedral ceiling framed with suspended track lighting, along with tiled floors that resemble hardwood floor planks, bright white walls, and few windows. All of these features, Gransee said, play an important role in how guests view art.

“We really want the work to speak for itself so we take the approach that less is more,” she said. “Presentation is by far the most important aspect we take. We could probably put a lot more things on the wall than we do, but they probably wouldn’t sell; people really love to stand back, take a look, and have a clear vision of a piece of art that they are looking at.”

The remaining (and currently unused) 800-square-foot portion of the building awaits future opportunities for growth.

“It’s such a different feel than next door and that’s something we wanted to make sure our clients saw too,” Gransee said. “Even though it’s a continuation and we have the same artists in both spaces … I love the openness of this and how far back you can really get a view of something.

Looking through the new space at Fine Line.

“I’m thrilled; I’m really excited about the potential and the possibility it gives to our artists because we’re just another building without them. They make it beautiful.”

Fine Line Designs Gallery is located at 10376 Hwy. 42 on the north end of Ephraim. For more information, visit FineLineDesignsGallery.com or call 920.854.4343.