The Grapevine Gallery, over 30 Years of Fine Art

Founded in 1977, The Grapevine was established by the growing interest in art on the part of two adult educators, the late Walter Gray, Jr. and Dan Blanchard.  They began collecting with the purchase of a painting from an amateur show in the lobby of a theatre where they had gone to see The Graduate when it was a first run movie.  As they attended shows and purchased art works, they fell into the habit of writing to the artist to offer to sell work to friends.  This entailed showing the work and having the friends write checks directly to the artist.  The artists were very happy with this.

Visiting a show of the art of Mexico, they were impressed with the work of Alfredo Zalce.  Alfredo lived in the city of Morelia, a place they visited annually.  They went to his studio and established a good relationship with a charming gentleman who was recognized as one of Mexico’s finest realists.  They asked if they could show some of his work to their friends.  He said yes and they sold several.  When he shipped more work from Mexico, they learned that a broker would be necessary for the technicalities of customs.  That came to several hundred dollars.  Those expenses required a big decision.  It was going to be necessary to sell the works for more than the artist required.  Suddenly, an organized business was necessary.

As a part of their educational activities, they had been active in producing television shows on art.  Early on these shows included the work of emerging artists such as Wilson Hurley in the early seventies and the young Dan Gerhartz in the nineties.  The specialty of The Grapevine Gallery has been to present promising artists of all ages and work with them for decades.  In nearly all cases, their promise has developed into high quality.

The name Grapevine was used because they were thinking of carrying wine accoutrements and books along with art.  That never came to pass, but the name turned out to be perfect for a gallery that regularly became acquainted with both artists and collectors from recommendations from collectors and artists.  Dan continued to supervise Grapevine operations following the passing of his Grapevine partner, Walt. 

After working and learning from Walt and Dan since 1996, the Grapevine is now in the hands of Walt's grand-nephew Clay Speer and his wife, Julie.  With aide from the long time, sharp and charming assistant Brenda Teders we are excited about the future of the gallery.    To get on their list of emailing information and photographs of the art works, email them at grapevinegalleryokc@yahoo.com.

We are proud of the artists with whom we work.  They are the reason for this gallery’s existence.