Lemon Street Gallery: A 10-Year Impression on the Kenosha Arts Scene

Kenosha, WI (October 6, 2009) - More than a decade ago, five artists sat around a table thinking it would be “cool” if they exhibited together, so Lemon Street Gallery & ArtSpace opened in Kenosha in November 1999. Located in southeast Wisconsin, just blocks from Lake Michigan, the gallery celebrates its ten-year anniversary on November 14th.

The gallery gets its name from the street it sits on. Located at the corner of Sheridan Road and 46th Street, the latter was named Lemon Street when the brick building went up in 1919. Melanie Hovey, the gallery’s director and one of its founders, calls the gallery “a refreshingly different art gallery experience!” It is a nonprofit artist’s collective featuring original artwork in all media by over 60 local and regional artists. Hovey partly opened the gallery so one particular artist could finally have her work displayed. That special person is her mom, Diana Becker. So, it is only fitting that this is whose work will be on display during the anniversary celebration. The Featured Artist Show is being billed as a show by “an artist mom and two of her daughters”. It will feature three of the gallery’s founders: Becker, Hovey, and Hovey’s sister, Christine Sikora. All three are painters, with very different styles (on display Oct. 28-Nov. 22).

On November 14th, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Lemon Street Gallery’s anniversary celebration will include an open house, live music, a book signing, artwork auction and an evening reception for the Featured Artist Show. A commemorative book has been produced to celebrate the gallery’s first decade of existence and accomplishments. The public unveiling of it will be during this event.

Lemon Street Gallery has made great strides in bringing people and the arts together in the community. The gallery is also founder of Kenosha’s Second Saturdays, in which many businesses in Kenosha's Downtown, Harborside and Union Park districts extend their hours the Second Saturday of each month for an evening of music, art, and refreshments. The gallery has also taken a lead role in beautifying its neighborhood, in and around Union Park. Union Park is the heart of the Kenosha Union Park Project, KUPP, an arts-district development fostered by Lemon Street Gallery, according to Hovey.

The gallery is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and also every Second Saturday, 6 p.m.-9 p.m. Visit www.lemonstreetgallery.org and www.kenoshaunionparkproject.com, or call (262) 605-4745 for more information. For more information about the Kenosha Area, including event information and a Kenosha Area Visitors Guide, log on to http://www.kenoshacvb.com or call the Kenosha Area Convention & Visitors Bureau at (262) 654-7307 or (800) 654-7309.

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