Meet Don Gnecco

We had the good fortune of connecting with Don Gnecco and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Don, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
The opportunity to work with many local, creative, and talented artists – who are just regular folks – is inspiring to me. Each of us has had one or more work lives and it is inspiring to be associated with folks who bring along all those years of experience – along with raising families – makes our gallery a powerhouse of both creativity and life experience.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
During my 50+ career as a public school educator and university professor, I took an adult education stained-glass class just for fun. That was more than 35 years ago, when we lived in New England. After relocating to northeast Georgia, I continued making stained-glass projects as a hobby. When Hemlock Studio Gallery opened in Clarkesville in June of 2021, I relocated my stained-glass workshop and began displaying finished pieces and also teaching stained-glass classes.

Like all of the artists and artisans at Hemlock Studio Gallery, I worked in the gallery a day or two each month. However, because my studio was there, I had the opportunity to see how things worked and got to know most of the artists personally. Consequently, when the original owners decided to retire, I didn’t want to see the gallery close and ultimately assumed ownership and management in the summer of 2024.

Given that there were some challenges in our original location, the first thing we did was to find a more visible space on the Clarkesville Square. With the awesome support and energy of our amazing artists’ community, we completely relocated and reopened in our present location in just two weeks!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are blessed to live and work in a spectacularly beautiful place, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains…in a corner of Georgia where North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia meet. There are so many walking and hiking trails, waterfalls, and mountain views in our area that it is difficult to name just one. Tallulah Gorge State Park, the Chattahoochee National Forest, Lake Rabin, Lake Burton, Lake Russell Recreation Area are just a few of the wonderful places to be in nature.

In 20 minutes, we can be in Alpine Helen, one of Georgia’s vacation destinations. A fun activity is to go tubing on the Chattahoochee River and then go for lunch at any number of unusual eateries nearby. Sometimes, it is fun to just play tourist and walk around Helen, Clayton, Clarkesville, or Dahlonega and people-watch.

In less than an hour, we can be at the Lake Hartwell Wildlife Safari, which is an up-close-and-personal visit with animals, which you can feed from the comfort of your (air conditioned!) car. It seems that everybody loves animals!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Hemlock Studio Gallery is successful because our founders – Anne Short and Jane McFerrin – saw a need in northeast Georgia for a place for artists to gather, learn from one another, and to display and sell their artwork. Sara Oakley, who has owned and managed several artists’ collaboratives over the years, was an inspiration for establishing the “break-even” business model that we continue to utilize today.

Website: http://www.HemlockStudioGallery.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hemlockstudiogallery/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artinclarkesville