Did you know, once upon a time, in 1983, our cooperative opened in what was the Old Main Street Mall, currently Sheridan Livery Inn?  That’s right, it used to be a small indoor shopping center where one of our founders, George Makinson, had his artists shop, “The Little Studio.”  You may remember him from when Artists in Cahoots was on the corner of Main and Washington, in what is now Haywoods. He had his easel and mini-studio in the front of the shop where he used to paint while working. 

Featured above is George in his Little Studio in 1981, and below is an oil on canvas by George from the mid 1990’s.

In 1982, local artists, including members of the Rockbridge Arts Guild, came together with an idea for an artists cooperative and from that Artists in Cahoots was born.  Betty Spencer, April Thren, Carter Drake, Joan Rough, and George Makinson were a few of the artists who were involved in the organizing committee that lit the spark.  Betty was known for her oil paintings of landscapes, but her talents included silver jewelry and theatrical costumes.  She taught art as a volunteer at Central Elementary School in the 1970s, when there was no budget for the arts.

The new shop, which opened at the corner of Main and Henry in 1983, initially featured figure paintings by Roy Rudasill, flower paintings by Gladys Cauley, unicorn pottery by Chrisana McKinney, watercolours by Clara Weaver, pottery by Jamie Brumm, photography by Frank Parsons, ironwork by Lee Sauder, paintings by Betty Spencer and her daughter Shawn, as well as the works of Larry McNeil, Nat Harrison, Chuck Lindsay, Ralph Grant, Joan Rough, and April Thren, with artist-in-residence George Makinson working on sea and landscapes.  These were the very first members of Artists in Cahoots.

Above is Clara Weaver and her watercolour paintings.