FantaSea Jewelry has found a new home! After 3-1/2 years in my quaint King Street Studio, it’s time to move onto bigger and better!
At the beginning of this year, my intention word for 2021 was “EXPANSION”, and like most of my intention words, it came to me with strength and clarity, but I had no idea what kind of expansion was in store… When the opportunity to move into the former Henle Gallery space at 55 Company Street came to me, it all made sense! I’ve always said that some of the most amazing opportunities in my life have just fallen into my lap, and this one was no exception.
With our grand re-opening on Art Thursday, March 18th, we’re celebrating the relocation and expansion of the FantaSea Jewelry Studio and Gallery at #55 Company Street in Christiansted.
Previously the Henle Studio Art Gallery, this historic artist’s loft will continue to feature Henle Fine Art, a welcome addition to the FantaSea Jewelry collections. For 27 years the paintings and prints of Maria Henle, the photographs of St. Croix’s premier photographer Fritz Henle and the photography of Tina Henle have inhabited the gallery, one of the island’s primary art venues. The gallery closed its doors in the summer of 2020, and now the Henle work and legacy will still adorn the walls and be available for purchase.
Nicole of FantaSea Jewelry with Tina Henle of Henle Fine Art.
Fritz Henle is a world renowned photographer, known for his black and white, square format images, his early Virgin Islands works and even portraits of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. He came to the USVI in 1947 on a fashion shoot for Holiday Magazine and fell in love with St Croix, moving here, raising his family here and residing until his passing in 1993.
Maria Henle was a painter and a print maker, very well known in the Virgin Islands, who passed away in 2007. She was an artist as a teenager and went on to study the process of etching in Florence, Italy and the printmaking workshop in New York City. Maria is best known for her trademark, multi-layered landscape imagery, and she also worked in etchings, a very old printing process. She opened the Maria Henle Studio in 1993, many of her original etchings and giclee reproductions of her paintings are still available through Henle Fine Art and at the FantaSea Studio and Gallery.
A photographer and intrepid traveler, a lot of Tina Henle’s work comes from those travels, including photographs of various cultures and landscapes. Raised on St. Croix and studying art and anthropology in college, she got the travel bug from her father, finding it to be the best education of all. Through her work, Tina expresses her passion for diverse cultures and landscapes and seeks to show the world “as it is”, as a visual storyteller, seeker of truth, and lover of life. She continued the Henle Gallery for 13 years after her sister Maria’s passing and now lives in St. Augustine, FL.
Art Thursday is one of Christiansted’s long standing events of over 23 years and was founded by Maria Henle. Art galleries, studios, jewelry shops and boutiques open their spaces for new exhibits and celebrate the many artists and creatives on St Croix. It is a wonderful time to meet the artists and to acquire some of the many fine art works for sale.
Due to Covid, the event has expanded its hours from 10 am-8 pm., allowing for fewer people at any one time inside the galleries. All health measures will remain in place.
Click here to read the Virgin Islands Daily News article about the new location and expansion!
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