THERE IS A MOMENT THAT JUDY FERGUSON AND DONNA McDonald know well: A first-time visitor steps through the door of Muse & Co. Fine Art, a little uncertain, perhaps even a little unsure, and within minutes they are standing in front of a painting they can’t stop looking at. That moment is exactly what the gallery was built for. For 20 years, Muse & Co. has been making fine art feel less like a transaction and more like a discovery, and the gallery’s arrival on historic Marietta Square has helped turn that corner of Georgia into one of the Southeast’s most compelling destinations for contemporary and transitional art.
The gallery’s story began in Roswell, where Ferguson and McDonald first opened their doors with a shared belief that collecting art should be accessible, joyful and free of pretension. After years of building a loyal following and a carefully curated roster of artists, they moved to Marietta Square, where they started in a modest space and eventually expanded into a larger space just off the square, next door to the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art. The timing proved fortuitous. The square was already home to a thriving cultural scene, with existing galleries, theater, dance and a community deeply committed to the arts.
“What I’ve appreciated about being on the square is there’s such a strong community with the other galleries and collectors,” Ferguson says. “Everyone around has such a strong appreciation for the arts. It’s been very rewarding as gallery owners and lovers of art.”
That spirit of collaboration runs deep. Rather than viewing neighboring galleries as competition, Muse & Co. sees them as partners in a shared mission. “We want each other to succeed. We build each other up, and that builds up the art community,” she adds.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the First Friday Art Walks, a monthly tradition on Marietta Square that draws collectors, newcomers and art enthusiasts year-round. Muse & Co. is proud to be a part of it. “We’re grateful to add to it with the quality of our artists and the work we carry,” says McDonald. “I love the community aspect, from the galleries to the shops and the community itself. Everyone is committed to keeping Marietta Square thriving.” The Marietta Arts Council, active and energized, keeps the cultural calendar full, and the gallery feeds into that energy with exhibitions, events and a steady stream of new work.
What sets Muse & Co. apart from many contemporary galleries is its commitment to range. While it carries some of the finest contemporary art in the Southeast, it also features more transitional work, giving collectors a broader spectrum to explore. Paintings in all mediums share space with photography and sculpture, and the overall effect is a gallery that feels generous rather than narrow. Many of the artists represented have been with the gallery for years, some for the full two decades of its existence. “They are like family,” Ferguson says. “We value them and appreciate them.” That loyalty is mutual, and it shows in the consistency and quality of the work on display.
The gallery’s services extend well beyond its walls. Muse & Co. offers complimentary in-home and corporate art consultations, a practice the founders consider one of the most valuable aspects of their business. Seeing a large piece in the context of a real room, surrounded by a client’s furniture, light and life, changes everything. “We love art consultations,” McDonald says. “We love coming into your home, seeing what you have, maybe rearranging some pieces you already own, and curating some new work and helping you collect.” For clients who are not local, the gallery has developed a robust virtual process, working from photographs of a space, creating digital installations and sending detailed videos of the work so that geography is never a barrier. With collectors spread across the country, many of whom visit Marietta or split their time between homes, this flexibility has become essential. The gallery also provides art installation services, handles commissions and rents work to the film and television industry.
“We try to make purchasing art and collecting art very accessible and nonintimidating,” Ferguson says. “We make it as easy as possible because sometimes people aren’t sure what they want. It’s our job to listen and help people. We don’t want people to be nervous about walking into the gallery. We make the process fun, especially for new collectors.”
That philosophy shapes every interaction. Art, as both women see it, is transformative. It evokes emotion, changes the energy of a room and connects people to something larger than themselves.
The artists represented by Muse & Co. reflect that vision with remarkable depth and variety. Donna Hughes, whose relationship with the gallery predates its founding, brings a timeless quality to her portraiture and landscapes. A graduate of Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts and a member of the Portrait Society of Atlanta, her subjects carry an unabashed confidence that lingers long after you’ve looked away.
Mary Beth Cornelius came to the gallery at its very beginning, making Muse & Co. her first gallery home. A retired electrical engineer who returned to her first love of painting, she creates nonobjective abstract work that carries a precision and depth that reflect both her technical background and her intuitive artistic instincts. She has grown into one of the gallery’s top-selling artists.
Chris Grubb brings a similarly analytical mind to a very different medium. A structural engineer licensed in 18 states, Grubb began sculpting relatively recently and has taken to it with remarkable speed and talent. His work is precise and deeply considered, and his artist statement reflects a man who thinks as carefully about meaning as he does about form. “I can get ‘happy-lost’ in the planning, measurements, scales, armatures, details and texture,” he writes. Each piece is both intellectually and emotionally engaging.
Roxane Hollosi is an artist who truly lives and breathes her work. Originally from the Midwest, she was shaped by Native American spiritual sensibilities and a deep respect for the Earth, influences that run through everything she makes. A multidisciplinary artist with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Iowa State University and additional study at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, she works across painting, collage, drawing, fabric, wood and found objects, layering materials into richly textured surfaces that reward close looking.
Susan Easton Burns has earned a national reputation for her equestrian paintings, and for good reason. A longtime resident of the Atlanta area, her work has been shown at the Booth Western Art Museum and published in American Art Collector magazine. She was the featured artist for the 140th Kentucky Derby in 2014, an honor that speaks to the reverence her work commands. Her horses are not simply painted; they are known, deeply felt and rendered with a spontaneity that makes each piece feel alive.
Elisabeth Ladwig rounds out the gallery’s photography offerings with work that defies easy categorization. An award-winning photographic artist whose career began in the New York music industry, where she designed for Broadway shows and recording artists, she now creates layered images that sit at the intersection of photography, graphic design and collage. Her pieces are vivid, metaphor-rich and full of a joyful visual intelligence that makes them instant conversation starters.
For those who cannot visit in person, the gallery is as close as a phone call or an email, and the conversation, like the art itself, is always worth sharing. *
Robin Howard is a freelance writer in Charleston. See more of her work at robinhowardwrites.com.
