When donna and kerry krueger opened dk gallery in Marietta, it was not the thriving arts community it is today. “The world was in a recession, but art has always been a part of my world, and I thought Marietta, with its historical backdrop on the Square, was the perfect setting for a gallery,” Donna Krueger says. She grew up immersed in art; her mother’s best friend was a professional working artist from Sweden. “I always owned original art, and my mom collected art from the local fairs.”
She worked in the advertising world and later pivoted to a stay-at-home career to raise her children. Because art was always a passion, she held art parties in her home to support artists whose work she loved and attended galleries every chance she got. One gallery owner changed her life.
“A friend and gallery owner was selling her business in the North Georgia mountains and told me I would be a good gallery owner. I was at a point where kids were leaving the nest, and my husband agreed it would be a perfect fit. I had spent my childhood watching my single working mom run a business and serve as an inspiring role model. So I heeded the suggestion, but we didn’t want to move to the mountains. We wanted to bring the joy of fine art to Marietta, the place we call home because we raised children here. We found an ideal spot on the Square, and we’ve called dk Gallery home for 17 years now. I love the gallery today as much as the first day we opened,” she says.
With a constantly evolving show schedule, dk Gallery celebrates the vibrancy of modern and contemporary masterpieces. Its location in historical Marietta Square is a hub of activity. The thriving contemporary fine art gallery represents 60 artists from across the nation, with patrons that also are spread across the country. The secret is out, according to Krueger. “We’re not known like New York or LA, but the artists we represent are superb,” she says. “Marietta has grown tremendously in the industry. We are surrounded by museums, other galleries, theaters and art events.”
One of those events is the Square’s monthly art walk, for which Krueger and gallery manager Emily Wolfe refresh the walls with new art. Keeping the gallery fresh is important; they present a new show every month and have been doing so since the gallery’s inception.
Connecting artists with the community while supporting local partners also is important to Krueger. The gallery has worked with many nonprofit organizations, such as the Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Marietta Educational Garden Center, which is a part of the upcoming exhibit in May.
The gallery’s prolific art shows include the ever popular Bloom, which is happening again this May for the fourth consecutive year. Ten artists will present their blooming botanical artwork, with corresponding floral arrangements designed to accompany each piece of art by master gardeners and members of local gardening clubs. Judges award prizes for the floral arrangements, which are raffled off to raise money for the Marietta Educational Garden Center.
This year, the Bloom event will feature artists such as Lorra Kurtz, who has been represented by dk Gallery for 14 years. “I have never seen an artist evolve as much as she has,” Krueger says. “She travels the world and has learned at the side of master artists. She brings that experience to the canvas.”
Painter Patti Ganek will participate this year, providing one of her artworks influenced by abstract expressionism. “Patti has a lifelong love of florals,” explains Krueger. “Her still life art is intuitive.”
Artist Catie Baldet grew up in the South of France, where she was surrounded by the finest artists. Now living in Birmingham, Alabama, she will exhibit several of her vibrant mixed-media pieces in the Bloom show. “I endeavor to create not only a visually stimulating playground for the eye but a restorative tonic for the mind as well,” Baldet says.
Artist Wyanne Thompson’s joyfully bold compositions will be on display during Bloom. Her previous cancer diagnosis (she is now cancer-free) informs her work and pushes her to express “colors interacting, the light reflected in the shadows and energy vibrating in stillness … which is often unnoticed in our day to day,” she says.
“Wyanne celebrates her life on canvas,” Krueger says. “She is an orchid grower, and you can feel the energy of color and movement and the power and beauty of the blooms radiating onto her canvases.”
Another Bloom featured artist, New York City-based Emily Farish, will contribute a botanical drawing for which she is best known.
“Monthly exhibitions in the gallery allow our community partners and patrons to get to know the artists we represent,” says Krueger. “Meeting them enables people to understand the stories behind the artists and their artwork; dk Gallery is very much about the local community.”
The June show, About Face, explores a contemporary take on portrait-style artwork from artists such as Chantel Barber, Eva Crawford, Holly Irwin, Catie Radney, Connie Karleta-Sales and Shellie Lewis Crisp.
“While our artists create their works using traditional subject matter, they each authentically portray their individual voice,” Krueger says. “When we are choosing new artists to represent, we select those whose work we fall in love with. We are committed to professional practices, and we want artists who are just as committed as we are. This business is about joy in the journey, along with selling and advancing our artists’ practices. Artists become our family members, and we must love working together on both sides of the partnership.”
In addition to working with individual patrons, dk Gallery has a corporate program to help companies choose the right artwork to incorporate into their workplaces. “We work with companies who put value on supporting fine art,” Krueger explains. “We sit with our corporate clients and look at their mission and vision holistically and determine what they want to communicate through artwork, and then match them with the right artist. Art is powerful. Nothing in a corporate setting more powerfully communicates a company’s brand, intellectual wealth, values and vision to its employees and clients.”
Throughout the years of working with art lovers, Krueger has learned some valuable lessons. “We never sold art online until COVID,” she explains. “We were forced to do so during that time and discovered people were very interested in buying art in that way. That year ended up being our best year ever, and today we still sell one-third of our pieces online to collectors and homeowners across the country.”
Whatever art she sells or artists she represents, Krueger ensures the work is accessible and authentic. “Our artists create from a place of deep authenticity. We’re not just here to sell pretty paintings,” she says. “We are here to share the joy of art.” *
Dana W. Todd is a professional writer specializing in interior design, real estate, luxury homebuilding, landscape design, architecture and art.
