By Danielle M. Crosier – Vermont Country Magazine.
MANCHESTER — Winter started early this year, as back to back snowstorms hit the Southern Vermont region in early December. It was during one of those early snow events that husband and wife team Greg DeLuca and Judith Cohen of Three Pears Gallery in Manchester, were doing what they do best – making people feel warm and welcome.
In the idyllic Battenkill River Valley, seasonal shoppers were busy exploring a bit of retail therapy – meandering through the numerous and charmingly quaint mix of artisan and craft galleries, independent specialty shops and boutiques, and designer outlets that Manchester offers.
Shrugging off the snow, crystalline clumps clinging to hair and mittens, groups of visitors mounted the stairs to the porch of Three Pears Gallery – stomping their feet on the porch before entering.
Inside of Three Pears Gallery, the cozy glow enveloped them. It wasn’t just the warmth, and it wasn’t just the lighting. It was the atmosphere.
Greeting visitors warmly at the door, as though reuniting with old acquaintances, Cohen and DeLuca called out, “Come in, come in – welcome.” And, they both were beaming.
“I want this to be an authentic experience,” explained DeLuca, of the gallery’s vision. “Before I opened up the gallery, I spent a week with a shaman and I came back with a gift and purpose for being here on this earth. It was to create beautiful environments that are healing for people.”
Walking into the gallery might feel like a bit of a journey for people, especially as they first look around. There truly is something for everyone – each style and taste, each price point, each nook and display.
“And, that’s what I want,” said DeLuca. “We believe that beautiful things and aesthetics, good design and craftsmanship, it doesn’t need to be out of reach. I’m very careful what we curate, as well. Even the artisanal antique pieces and the vintage pieces – there’s a history behind them and they’re of the finest quality. They have good design. The whole feeling is of this curated aesthetic of beautiful lines – beautiful pieces that have emotion, history, and story to them.”
“If I see something that exceedingly catches my eye, and it also fits with that Vermont aesthetic,” said DeLuca. “If it fits in with the raw or manicured beauty. That’s what I want. There’s a lot of aspects of Vermont, especially Southern Vermont, and that’s everything from earthenware to 18th and 19th century tabletop pieces – it’s got that aesthetic of Vermont beauty. It’s interesting. It’s compelling.”
“And, that’s done purposefully,” explained Cohen, pointing out an artist’s work to a customer before turning back and broadening her arm out to the shop. “And, Greg does all of this. He has an extraordinary eye. He curates everything. He fell in love with Vermont as a little boy, and we just love it here. People feel comfortable here with us. And, we’re so blessed with the artists that we have, too. Many have been with us from the start, and we just love celebrating them.”
“Judith has had many successful and acclaimed years in the performing arts,” added DeLuca. “Those efforts in the performing arts now overlap in the visual arts, shining success on the artists at Three Pears Gallery. And, it adds to the unique panache of the Three Pears Gallery experience.”
According to the artists and artisans represented at the gallery, that attention to detail, that focus on the Vermont aesthetic, that welcoming nature, and that authentic DeLuca/Cohen “experience” is what they most appreciate about the couple.
The gallery features painters like Oscar Truglar, Ken Rush, Mary Iselin, Gigi Beagan, Caryn King, Charis Congail, Steve Kovach, Brian Hewitt, Dublin Durller-Wilson, and Jim Rodgers. It also features King’s sculpture and jewelry by Durller-Wilson, Will Alderfer, and Sharon Herman; furniture by John Beagan; the photography of Hooey Wilkes, Chris Mazzarella, and Tony Schwartz; ceramics by Lauren Silver; glassware by Cheryl Gutmaker; pottery by Ingrid Gitnik; and needlefelted animals by mother daughter team Sarah and Kathy George.
Painter Charis Congail, for example, has been with DeLuca and Cohen for nearly a dozen years, “Since joining the gallery, I have traveled with them from a barn in Pawlet, to a central location in Dorset, to their new location in downtown Manchester. It has been a journey where Greg and Judith have gone far beyond the traditional role of art dealers. They provide their artists and clients with genuine support, encouragement, knowledge, and friendship. Three Pears is more than a gallery; it is really an artistic hub for the community.”
Painter Mary Iselin, who also has had a long history with the gallery, agreed, “Three Pears Gallery is magical because Greg believes in magic. A good gallery owner can make a tremendous impact on and in an artist’s career. Greg sees not just what his artists are doing now; he also sees their potential, and encourages that potential. He helps us believe in ourselves. It is always a warm event to visit with Greg and Judith in the magical environment which they have created.”
Three Pears Gallery is filled to the brim with the most eclectic mix of incredible pieces of art – paintings lit with gallery lights, but also lit from within.
“A special talent of all of the artists and artisans that we have here is that they actually breathe life into their work, and that encapsulates everything that we do,” said Greg DeLuca, glancing around the expanse of the shop. “I mean, Three Pears is a fine art and lifestyle gallery, highly curated to enhance one’s home and feeling and mood. Having beautiful things in your home – that shows in your heart. And your home – it’s like a tapestry of your life. Having beautiful things around you – it’s very healing.”
The gallery is also filled to the brim with antique and vintage housewares of “exquisite taste and design” – and, in this way, entering Three Pears Gallery also feels as though you are entering into someone’s home or stepping through the pages of a magazine layout.
“Birds of a feather, we are. I’m safe with you,” laughed a customer who had been chatting with Cohen as she selected a felted ornament and placed it at the desk. “My daughter is a felter, and this is just so unique – I’ve just never been in here before. It’s – it’s wonderful.”
“It’s – it’s like a fairytale. Elegant. It’s enchanting really,” commented another, examining one of Charis Congail’s glowing original oil paintings – an image of a seated young girl wearing a crown, the background insinuating a forested scene.
“We like it when people come in and just really enjoy the experience,” explained DeLuca. “A lot of people who come in have never been into a gallery before, but they come in and find that spiritual aspect of it – that healing and calming effect. They just really enjoy the experience of it, stopping in to enjoy the art, having interactions like that, and having the freedom and permission to enjoy art without the intimidation of it. And, Judith and I, we just really love it.”
Outside, the fickle Vermont weather was in the midst of yet another transformation. What began as a sleety snow, pelting vehemently down from the heavens, was now falling gently to earth in fluffy little poofs, settling atop the slush – and rapidly accumulating.
Looking out at the snowy parking lot and the people milling about outside, DeLuca grinned and opened the door, stepping out onto the porch and inviting them in.
Three Pears Gallery is located at 4963 Main Street in Manchester, Vermont. More information can be found at https://3pearsgallery.com/, or simply by stopping in for a visit.
Danielle Crosier is a landlocked mermaid who found her way to Vermont by accident. She is a wife and mother, a former technical writer (10 years), former educator (19 years), and glass artisan with a background in marketing and strategic management. Her interests, though, lie mainly in studying and understanding systems and improving the lives of those around her. She also loves spending time with her precious children and their significant others, organizing, learning about social geography, creative endeavors, experimenting with various cuisines, and exploring the world around her.
