Great news for a small business with many friends in the art community. The River’s End Gallery opened full time back in its original location in Historic Downtown Waukesha at 380 West Main St. “It is great to be back in Waukesha and see our old friends again full time,” explained Joan Skimmons the gallery owner. “And we hope our Elm Grove friends, don’t mind the short trip to Historic Downtown Waukesha. It is such a wonderful downtown with great dining and entertainment.”
The Waukesha gallery looks different. It has been remodeled to allow for more paintings. It has new carpet and freshly painted walls. In addition, a complementary business that markets Native American jewelry and artifacts, The Farmer’s Daughter Collection, has merging its “American art” with the River’s End Gallery’s “American art.” “This merger is so much fun for Lynn Pfeil, the owner of The Farmer’s Daughter Collection and me,” Skimmons continued. “Our all-American art, all be it, from two different areas of the country – the Midwest and Southwest, was integrated into the full space.”
“What makes us special is that we deliver downhome personal service. We work very hard to make sure we create a positive experience. We treasure our loyal clients, such as the husband who always knows he can find that perfect gift for his wife a day or two before Christmas and he knows he doesn’t even have to wrap it. We take special care to wrap gifts for our clients, our return policy is very liberal, and we pack and ship the art to a second homes or gifts to that special person. We can make custom pieces of jewelry or we will find the perfect artist to paint the size painting you need,” continued Skimmons.
There are those of us who really love “real” American creations and it is becoming harder and harder to find. The gallery provides original art to designers for their clients as well. They don’t have to travel to Chicago and pay those high prices when the art is right in Waukesha County.
We all have heard the expression of “starving artist,” many artists are giving up trying to make a living producing art. The River’s End Gallery gives artists a place to show their art at art fair prices without the artist having to take off from work. Each artist exhibited in the gallery is selected through the most discerning process ensuring only the finest art is exhibited.
Likewise, Native American jewelry and artifacts are available in the Southwest, but harder to find in Wisconsin. They represent a style loved by many who find Native American art and jewelry very special. In addition to its outstanding silver and precious stone jewelry, The Farmer’s Daughter Collection has a large display of Arizona and New Mexico Kachina (story teller sculptures), outstanding pottery, rugs and assorted drums, hunting tools and decorating art. This wonderful art is all throughout the gallery.
The River’s End Gallery was established in 2006 in Historic Downtown Waukesha and therefore, the move to open fulltime in Waukesha makes sense. The River’s End Gallery is known as one of Waukesha County’s finest galleries in contemporary two and three dimensional art. The Gallery’s mission is to offer artworks of the highest quality by regional and national artists and to make art accessible to everyone.
With a focus on traditional paintings, studio art glass, sculpture, crystalline porcelain and artful jewelry, the Gallery presents in-depth exhibitions in its beautiful Waukesha space. The Gallery has a reputation for pleasing clients. “Many of our clients have adopted the gallery as their own and that is the greatest compliment the gallery can receive,” said Skimmons.
A lifelong Waukesha County resident and a fourth-generation farmer in the Town of Vernon, it was natural that Lynn Pfeil took, The Farmer’s Daughter Collection, for her business name. When a couple, who were family friends, decided to part with their huge treasure trove assembled over a lifetime, Lynn acquired the outstanding array of Native American jewelry and artifacts and opened in the City of Waukesha.
The combined galleries are open Wednesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
The galleries will have a special event on December 1, 2018 for the Waukesha Art Crawl, which begins at 4 p.m. through 10 p.m.
Contact the River’s End Gallery at 262-780-1191, www.RiversEndGallery or Facebook. 380 West Main Street, Waukesha, WI 53186.
Contact The Farmer’s Daughter Collection at 262-490-8158, @thefarmersdaughtercollection.com, 380 West Main Street, Waukesha, WI 53186.