Secord Gallery

Things are looking a little different these days at art space/custom picture-framing shop, the Secord Gallery (upstairs, 6301 Quinpool, AKA Hall of Frame). Since January, the gallery’s been under renovation. The space’s first post-renovation reception, which marks the opening of artist Rose Adams’ exhibition, is scheduled for April 18 (the gallery has been open during the entire renovation process, but hasn’t held an official opening since last year). “We’ll certainly be ready for this first opening---although...we’ll be ready 10 minutes before the show opens,” jokes owner Phil Secord. The renos are all geared toward making more effective use of the existing gallery space. “I realized that by relocating our office and artwork storage systems, we could actually add a much more open area to the gallery,” Secord says. This better equips the gallery to show larger works, and gives art aficionados the room to back up and look at paintings from a distance, when the fancy strikes. The new storage-area-turned-gallery-space also boasts a couple windows, giving patrons more natural light to view art. The business opened as framing shop Hall of Frame back in 1979; Secord took over the shop in 1986 and established the gallery 15 years ago. Last year, Secord thought about moving the shop downtown, but was unable to find a space in his price range, large enough to accommodate both parts of the business. Plus, Secord realized the shop was “long established” where it was. The renovations, then, are “about renewing our commitment to this location, and...about creating a better gallery,” he says. Secord’s also got another change up his sleeve: while custom framing will still be among the services the gallery offers, some time this year Secord would like the gallery to shed the Hall of Frame name altogether, and become known only as Secord Gallery. “It’s corny, and clever---and I may be corny and clever sometimes, but that’s not really my style,” he says. (It’s totally my style. I’d call my framing store I’ve Been Framed.) Call the gallery at 423-6644.