About 25 years after purchasing her first piece of art, a Muskingum County native opened an art gallery — a gallery that is featuring artwork from other Zanesville natives.

For Sarah Gormley, that first piece of artwork she owned became the spark for a dream that didn’t come to fruition for many years.

“When I graduated from college, my grandma Cameron bought me my first piece of artwork from a classmate of mine and really in that moment, in my head I was like wouldn’t it be amazing to have an art gallery because it was just such a cool experience to see a piece of work that you love and buy it,” Gormley said.

Like many people who go off to college, Gormley graduated from Philo High School, went to college and left small-town living behind as she traded the lifestyle for a successful career in big cities.

From Chicago to New York to San Francisco, Gormley’s marketing career took her across the country, but the Muskingum County native returned to her hometown in 2017 after her father passed away and her mother fell ill.

“I quit my job and moved back home to help take care of her,” Gormley said. “And I was also at a point in my career where I was sort of burnt out.”

After her mother passed away in 2018, Gormley was unsure what she wanted her life to look like. While living at her family’s farm, she decided to use her years of career experience to form an LLC for marketing consulting.

Despite her love for Zanesville, Gormley missed the city, so she moved to Columbus to live in the Short North.

After moving to Columbus, the soon-to-be gallery owner was at a cocktail party and mentioned to others that she has always wanted to open a pop-up art gallery.

As timing would have it, the same company that Gormley was renting her apartment from had retail space available in the Short North Art District.

“Ever since my grandmother bought that painting for me, I never lost the desire to do that,” Gormley said of opening her own gallery. “And I’ve been collecting art over the years, and that painting has moved with me from, you know, it went from Indiana to Chicago to New York to San Francisco to back to Ohio.”

Once she visited the space, Gormley knew it was time to turn her dream of an art gallery into reality.

In April 2019, she opened the Sarah Gormley Gallery, located at 988 N. High Street in Columbus.

“I very quickly realized that it wasn’t just an experiment, it’s something I really wanted to dedicate myself to,” Gormley said.

Since its opening, Gormley said she’s been fortunate enough to succeed despite her lack of experience in a gallery.

“I’ve been a buyer of art but I’ve never worked in a gallery and I don’t have an art history degree or anything like that and so I feel really, really fortunate,” Gormley said.

The Zanesville community, especially its artist community, has always stood out to Gormley who sits on the board for the Zanesville Museum of Art.

Once her gallery opened, she began thinking of ways she could recognize Zanesville local and Zanesville-native artists which sparked the idea for showcase featuring artists who still live in Muskingum County or who are from the area.

“I’ve always been aware of the fantastic arts community and the number of talented artists in Zanesville and so, from the time I opened the gallery, I thought in my head, what can I do to help support and showcase some of the talent using my gallery,” Gormley said. “And that’s how the group show came about.”

Nine artists were chosen. Gormley met with each artist and curated a group of pieces that played well off one another.

“My hope is that, by putting this show together, Zanesville as a community rich with artistic talent will be seen in a new way,” she said.

The Zanesville-focused show is currently up at the Sarah Gormley Gallery and will be showcased until the end of January.

“It’s both the power of the collective to know that Zanesville is a place you should care about, as well as a way to celebrate the individual artists,” Gormley said.

She added that her only regret is that she couldn’t incorporate more artists from the area as she said there are many more talented people than the nine the show was limited to due to space restrictions. 

The Sarah Gormley Gallery is open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. Anyone interested in scheduling an appointment outside of gallery hours can contact Gormley via her website, here, or by email at sarah@sarahgormleygallery.com.

A reception for the exhibit will be held at the gallery on Saturday, Jan. 11 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Many of the featured artists will be in attendance.

Featured artists include: