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Second Story Studio

Kurt Eagleman, owner of Second Story Studio.

~story and photos by Chrissy Alspaugh

With Brown County art and nature coloring the canvas of his childhood, contemporary painter Kurt Eagleman is back home and breathing reimagined life into an iconic gallery.

He opened Second Story Studio on the upper level of the Village Green building, 61 West Main Street in Nashville. For decades, the space has featured the work of Hoosier artists, formerly housing B3 Gallery and before that Ferrer Gallery.

Eagleman has re-designed the 2,000-squarefoot space into three distinct worlds-in-one: an exhibition gallery, gallery shop, and an intimate lounge for artists and community members to collaborate, learn, and create.

The gallery shop continues to feature the work of many of the artists the public has loved there in the past. Eagleman also welcomes new contemporary artists and those often under-represented in the art community.

“Art needs to be accessible for everyone,” Eagleman said. “Removing roadblocks and making it inviting is really what I want to stand for.”

Eagleman was born in Brown County: his mother is an artist with whom he still collaborates, and his father is an interpretive naturalist and writer. As a child, Kurt was taught and mentored by renowned Brown County painter Patricia Rhoden Bartels. In the decades that followed, studying and working at Indiana University, Venice, Italy, New York, and Dallas took the budding young artist away from his home art community.

Eagleman found himself traveling between Dallas and Brown County during COVID. With the nudging of a friend, he opened a pop-up shop showcasing local artists in October 2020 called Ee Oh Lay Studio. “It was just for fun. There was an end date. There was no pressure,” Eagleman said. “The community loved it, and I kind of knew something special was happening.”

Grateful for the community’s support and art history ingrained in his own heart, Eagleman undertook a series of three community art murals in downtown Nashville and on the Salt Creek Trail during the years that followed.

When the B3 Gallery space became available, Eagleman said the endeavor aligned with his values, plans, and goals.

Former B3 co-owner Sharon Bussert said she “loves knowing that the space will continue to be a gallery.… It’s wonderful to know that people will continue to connect with local artists there.”

Watercolor painter Leah Baker, whose art career began during the pandemic, had been recently juried into the B3 Gallery when news came that it would be sold. She said Eagleman quickly became a warm, inviting mentor and valuable guide for her blossoming career.

Eagleman leads a recent oil painting class.

Second Story Studio’s first artist showcase opened in September: “In Between,” a dual exhibit featuring Indiana University Master of Fine Arts painters Antonia Constantine and Luke Carlson. Eagleman said new exhibits will launch about every month. Throughout November, the exhibit will showcase the work of New York artist, and now Brown County resident, Bill Bateman.

Through the far side of the gallery, visitors find themselves stepping down into an adjoining studio and artist lounge that invites artists of all ages and experience levels to collaborate or create a masterpiece of their own. The studio and lounge room boasts a 100-foot wall of windows, timber beams, red-brick masonry, mid-century wood paneling, and an array of inviting chairs and workspaces.

Public course offerings launched in October and included multi-week adult classes on oil painting, drawing, and watercolor. Drop-in children’s classes introduced a new medium of art each week. Upcoming courses will draw on the expertise and passion of local artists and instructors, Eagleman said.

Arriving at a recent oil painting class, April Barr said Second Story Studio is helping reignite a fire inside her for painting that was dormant for nearly 45 years. Barr said she majored in art in college but worked as a nurse and later a paralegal. “I’m 70. I’m retired, and Kurt helping bring back my love of art is saving me,” she said. “He’s an absolutely amazing teacher, and what he’s doing for the community is wonderful.”

Eagleman’s vision is for the studio to be “a living, breathing creative space for artists.”

A series of six themed gallery shop rooms also offer visitors the hand-made, one-of-a-kind work of more than 50 Hoosier artisans: mosaics, wood crafts, ceramics, jewelry, photography, and contemporary and collectible vintage paintings by notable Brown County artists including Ralph Craig, Charles Barnes, and Joe Shell.

One of Eagleman’s passions is mentoring other artists and pushing them to the limits of their artistry. He said artists can get trapped trying to create work that they think consumers will buy, which results in pieces that are more generic and less personal. “I love to push artists into their artistry and encourage them to let me shape how we’re going to present it to the public,” he said.

The community’s support of Eagleman’s reimagined gallery and studio has been energizing for the artist.

“Things falling into place over and over again really lets me know we’re on the right track,” he said. “We have so much rich history that’s helping push us forward, and I just feel humbled and blessed to continue it on for future generations.”

Second Story Studio is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information or to book a class, see www.ssstudio.art .

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