JUNE 5, 2008 ISSUE
Business Spotlight
Morning Star Gallery—Doing Business With You In Mind For 23 Years
Story by Sam Calhoun
Handmade art from around the region and the country is waiting for you on Sunset Drive in Blowing Rock.
Morning Star Gallery, located at 257 Sunset Drive, is filled with fine art and collectibles from the High Country, as well as from across the nation.
“It’s the place to come and see handmade in America,” said Maggie Wilson, who co-owns Morning Star Gallery with her husband Bob. “We have regional art, blown-glass pieces, tapestries and paintings, and also stuff from all over the USA.”
After 23 years in business in the High Country, Morning Star Gallery now features work from more than 125 artists. Maggie said that the goal of Morning Star Gallery is to showcase art from the United States, and to show American handcrafts for what they are, from the traditional to the contemporary.
“That’s why people come to this region,” said Maggie.
Maggie was born a Navy brat and traveled for most of her youth. She moved all over the East Coast before settling in St. Petersburg, Fla. where she helped open the Salvador Dali Museum and subsequently accepted a job at the museum.
Bob was born in Philadelphia and received an undergraduate degree in psychology from Pennsylvania State University. After completing a counseling degree from the University of South Florida and a master of business administration from Jones International University, Bob settled in St. Petersburg and in 1978 accepted a job as a counselor in a mental health program.
In addition to her work at the museum, Maggie worked with the same mental health program as a manager. The two met, dated and married in Florida in 1983.
“But we were ready for a change,” said Bob.
In 1985, the couple moved to the High Country—a place they knew from camping trips—on what they describe as the coldest day on record. It was Super Bowl Sunday 1985 and Bob had to navigate downed power lines only to arrive at a house without power.
“We survived, though,” said Maggie. “We loved the area. We had camped up here and loved the beauty of it all. We wanted to get away from the population growth of Florida.” 
Fresh off their midwinter adventure, Bob immediately got a job in the area and the couple decided to move.
Around the same time, Maggie met a woman she calls her mentor—Marion Hendrix. From Linville, Hendricks understood handmade art and instilled in Maggie a love for the same. Hendricks also understood what direction an art shop should take and was happy to share her expertise with Maggie.
With a mentor, a dream and a love for handmade art, Maggie and Bob opened Morning Star Gallery in May 1985.
For the first 6 years, Morning Star Gallery was located beside The Village Café and Tack Room on Highway 105 in Foscoe. For the next 8 years, the gallery was located at the Shoppes at Tynecastle in Banner Elk. In 1999, the gallery moved to 915 Main Street in Blowing Rock and just this year moved to Sunset Drive. The new space is more than double the size of the previous location, and plenty of art fills its walls and shelves.
Morning Star Gallery is filled with the work of Mike Alonzo, Wes Waugh, Trena McNabb, Herman Leonhardt and many others. From unique and artistic gift cards to expansive blown-glass bowls; from colorful paintings of people, music and culture, to landscapes of the surrounding mountains, flora and fauna; from outdoor yard art to jewelry of all shapes, colors and sizes; and from works of copper to tapestries, Morning Star Gallery features the best of handmade in America.
“I try to make the gallery so that everyone can find something unique and special,” said Maggie, who, with Bob, shops for or seeks out most of the items in the gallery. “There’s no end to what people want, so I just let my imagination go.”
Maggie and Bob choose their artists through a network of artists who recommend their friends. She found Wes Waugh, one of her bestsellers, by word of mouth.
“It’s like a big network now,” said Maggie, “but we always keep it fresh.”
Staying fresh means keeping track of current trends. Whereas quilt work was a hot seller a few years ago, the market is down now because more and more quilts are being made overseas. Hand-blown glass pieces, Maggie said, are now popular, and are stocked in profusion at Morning Star Gallery.
Bob said that the gallery’s business secrets are exceptional quality merchandise and customer service.
“We carry nothing but quality merchandise and everything is oriented to the customer. We’ll work with every customer to make sure they have what they want,” said Bob.
“And what you see is what you get,” added Maggie. “Our quality is always good and our service is always good.”
Morning Star Gallery’s clientele is mixed—“We see everybody,” said Maggie. For example, during the week before Mother’s Day, Morning Star Gallery helped customers from Zimbabwe, as well as helped customers aged 8 to 70 find gifts for the special women in their lives.
Today, Morning Star Gallery features more artists than it did when it opened 23 years ago, and its clientele has become more diversified. The Wilsons thank the Blowing Rock Chamber of Commerce for helping downtown Blowing Rock become a destination for more vacationers.
Maggie and Bob are the gallery’s only two employees. Maggie is generally in the gallery; Bob is usually there only on Saturdays because he also has a job at New River Behavioral Healthcare. The Wilsons have no plan to move out of the High Country, only plans to find more wall space at their gallery for more art.
“We just moved in—this should be fun for a while,” laughed Maggie. “It would take a stick of dynamite to get us out of here now.”
Morning Star Gallery is located at 257 Sunset Drive in Blowing Rock. The gallery is open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 828-295-6991.
Community Interest
News & Notes
Events
Arts & Entertainment
