Amidst Metro Gallery’s vast sea of artwork wades a tiny, faded slip of paper anchored to a window.
“Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old,” it reads. Words once spoken in the early 1900s by Austrian author Franz Kafka have become a lifestyle for Metro Gallery owner Dean Settle – whose lengthy voyage of collecting art began in college.
“My roommate was an art major,” he says. “He never had any money for room and board payments, so I bought art from him to help him out, but also because I liked it.”
At the time, Settle admits he didn’t know much about art, but that didn’t stop him from collecting.
“My criterion was if I liked it, I bought it. Now my wife and I have paintings at our house from the floor to the ceiling.”
After more than 50 years of purchasing art from all across the country, Settle considered opening his own gallery where he could sell some of his collection, and eventually help liquidate others’ artwork as well.
His aspirations became a reality in June of 2012, when the longtime art-lover opened Metro Gallery at 13th and O.
“We’ve made some good sales, and traffic has increased every week since then,” he says. “The people who come in are enamored with the idea of what I’ve done – selling my own collection – so I think we’re on to something,” he says with a laugh.
The gallery features both framed and unframed work from roughly 35 to 40 different artists, including some from the Community Mental Health Center, where Settle previously served as director. While at the Mental Health Center, he helped begin a formal art (and writing) program in 1990 for the people he and his staff served.
“It lifted spirits. They knew immediately that it was a safe, welcome place; that we valued them. It was a special relationship, and I wanted to have something to remember them by. Now some of their work is featured here.”
While reminiscing, Settle gazes at several of the pieces individually, then collectively.
“When I retired from the Mental Health Center, I knew I’d like to be surrounded by nice art. I would never work in a place that I couldn’t hang art. I don’t know if I could be productive in a visual wasteland.”
As inventory begins to ebb, the owner says Metro Gallery will venture into the consignment business and help sell other people’s unused art.
“I think there is a need for people to liquidate art that they’re using and not enjoying, or art that they have no personal identification with, and I definitely have an interest in that.”
One might assume Settle would get a little emotional as he bids farewell to some of the pieces he’s had for decades, but the art enthusiast offers a different sentiment:
“I don’t mind seeing them go. So many good stories; so many good memories. I’ve been blessed to live with them for so long. In the scheme of things, I may have lived with them longer than anyone – so that puts it all in perspective,” he says smiling.
Metro Gallery is located at 1316 N Street. Delivery and installation of purchased art is free of charge.
Recent and ongoing developments spotlight the reoccurring vitality of downtown Lincoln:
Last month resulted in a large amount of building improvements and alterations, leading to an investment of $8,349,000 in downtown construction projects. This includes $1,299,000 worth of structural enhancements and $6,900,000 worth of hotel construction.
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