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photo provided by Berlin Creek Gallery
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photo provided by Berlin Creek Gallery
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photo provided by Berlin Creek Gallery
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photo provided by Berlin Creek Gallery
In ‘80s Berlin, Ohio, Nancy Tarzan waited for a bite to eat. She was visiting the locally famous Boyd & Wurthmann restaurant in Holmes County. While in line, an older Amish man turned to her. He had a message: If you take any advice from anybody, take this advice from me. Buy something in Berlin.
Tarzan didn’t question fate. She purchased an electricity-free Amish house — converted, by 1984, into her art gallery and framing business: Berlin Creek Gallery. Born into a Greek American family, Tarzan was already working in the industry at her father’s Creative Framing art gallery in Canton. Now Tarzan works at Berlin Creek Gallery alongside her daughter, Alysha Troyer, who grew up bouncing between galleries owned by her family members — painting with her grandfather, watching him chainsaw carve and learning the tricks of the trade. The mother and daughter carry on their family’s dedication to art and custom framing together.
“We’ve taken what my grandmother and grandfather started, and we have kicked it up a notch,” says Troyer. “What makes it famous is we use all real fabrics, real silk mats, real linens, real suedes. We use hand-dipped marble paper, so every paper is hand dipped with multiple colors. ... It’s that hand touch that creates a one-of-a-kind masterpiece on every custom piece.”
Berlin Creek features around 200 local and international artists working in myriad mediums — including the soft lights of Thomas Kinkade’s paintings like the limited-edition “A Peaceful Retreat” ($2,900.85), hand-thrown bowls by potter Kerry Brooks (around $150) and handblown glassworks by artist Robert Eickholt (around $300).
“We try to pick pieces that, when you look at it, you’re in awe of what you’re seeing. It has to create an emotion,” Troyer says. “That’s one of the reasons why we’ve been able to stay open for 40 years. We always tell people: Don’t just buy it as an investment … you have to look at this and feel something.”
The gallery’s status as an authorized P. Buckley Moss dealership led to a visit from the famed artist — and one of Troyer’s favorite childhood memories. She brought the artist a huge chocolate chip cookie, prompting Moss to create a print of Troyer’s pig-tailed visage.
One of Berlin Creek’s newest artist additions, Sugarcreek resident Tracy Shutt, has worked at the gallery for over 25 years. An empty nester, she tried her hand at acrylic painting. Once she brought her works in, they started to sell. Now, Shutt often paints personal scenes such as her customers’ family homes.
“I started off just doing acrylics, and now I’ve been doing my under painting in acrylics and then I’ve been going over top with oils,” says Shutt, who paints in a realistic style.
Visitors to the gallery — as well as its sister space, Blue River Gallery — can expect a warm, imaginative environment. Troyer’s two young children are usually there, learning and playing — just as she once did. Welcoming and comfortable, the space is a testament to generations of creativity.
“I want to leave a legacy like my mom has left a legacy … like my grandma left a legacy,” Troyer says. “Art is something that is essential.”
5042 state Route 39, Berlin, 330-893-2686
