Patrick Szabo
Bill and Susan Byrne are celebrating the 25th anniversary of their art gallery in downtown Middleburg.
ART SCENE
How a Life Change Help Build Middleburg’s Art Community BY PATRICK SZABO
In 1995, a Washington, DC-based legal administrator quit her job and sold her house to open Middleburg’s Byrne Gallery. Hundreds of exhibits and featured artists later, she and her brother continue to push ahead with more events and exhibits by renowned artists. Since Susan Byrne opened the gallery, she and her brother, Bill, have hosted close to 300 exhibits and has featured the artwork of more than 500 artists from around the world. This month, the gallery features the 17th annual exhibit of the work of Yuri Gorbachev, an internationally acclaimed Russian artist. Susan hatched the idea to open the gallery shortly after taking a new job with a law firm in Washington, DC. 6
“Although it was a very good job and a very good firm and I was making a lot more money, I realized it wasn’t about the money,” she said. Nine months later, she quit, sold her Georgetown house and headed to Middleburg. Three elements factored into her decision to open the art gallery here: she enjoyed visiting the town, she had always wanted to open her own business, and her mother was an artist who had instilled within her a passion for the arts. In the past 25 years, the gallery has hosted hundreds of exhibits, including a dozen featuring the work of Notre Dame Academy students. With the help of her brother, the operation expanded to offer art acquisition, framing, restoration,
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BYRNE GALLERY
7
DECEMBER 2020
