Brigitte Strand hopes to combine her love of music with her new venture as owner of Art Beat Gallery.
Strand, who takes ownership of the gallery Saturday, studied choral music in her native Costa Rica.
“I studied with the symphony and as part of my training also took art studies. I discovered then that I was a terrible artist but I developed a love for all art forms and a respect for what comes out of creativity,” Strand said.
Strand, who most recently worked as a nutritional counsellor and at a St. Albert jewelry store, admitted she had never been to Art Beat until she walked through the doors for the first time in June.
“It was love at first sight,” she said.
Strand will host an open house Thursday Oct. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Former owners Sandra and Eric Outram will be on hand to formally hand over the business to Strand as they say goodbye to the shop they have owned for 15 years.
“Then I’m heading to the West Coast to finish building Sandra her dream home and to pursue my writing career,” said Eric.
Sandra will stay in St. Albert and will continue to help Strand through the busy fall season leading up to Christmas.
“Then I’ll join my family in Powell River. I have plans to work part time in a gallery there, because the thought of going cold turkey scares me. I’m also going to grow food — wholesome food for my family and we’ll have a greenhouse,” Outram said.
And the beat truly will go on, at this art gallery, Strand promised.
“We’ll have a harpist Oct. 6, when John Burrow shows his art and in the future we’ll have a player piano in the shop,” she said.
Jim Hole, co-owner of Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens admits to a certain awkwardness when it came to announcing Saturday’s grand opening of the Enjoy Centre.
“It’s not really the grand opening because we’ve been open since the spring. That’s why we decided to call it Plugged-In because every business is now plugged in and officially open,” Hole said.
Liquid Harvest, Fine Wine, Spirits and Ales, owned by Karem and Jeff Halaby, opened two weeks ago, and was the last business to plug in, Hole said.
Including the Holes’ family businesses, with the floral studio and the greenhouses and gardens, there are nine businesses at the Enjoy Centre.
“Business is good,” Hole said, as he explained that the Enjoy conference centre hosted 47 events during the month of September.
“People are seeing and discovering there is more diversity — more to enjoy. There is a synergy with the other businesses. It’s like a completed circle with the gardens, the vegetables, the tools for cooking, the housewares and gifts, the organic foods and fine wines and the spa,” he said.
A number of family-oriented entertaining events are planned for the opening including a Jumpee Things castle and the Edmonton Stilt Walkers. The St. Albert Singers will entertain and there will be ongoing demonstrations throughout the day.
The Enjoy Centre Plugged-In official opening is scheduled for Oct. 1 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
