About Us:

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.

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.

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. 

After working and learning from their now late mentors, Walt and Dan, beginning in 1995, the Grapevine is now in the hands of Walt’s grand-nephew Clay Speer and his wife, Julie. To get on their list of emailing information and photographs of the art works, email them at clay.grapevine@gmail.com.

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