June 1, 2008 — Michael Banzhaf Gallery showcases some of the finest artists from St. John and beyond — including namesake Michael Banzhaf.
"I had the opportunity to do my own thing and market my works myself," Banzhaf said.
His gallery is located on the North Shore Road in a string of shops that sits between the government-owned parking lot by the Nature's Nook building and Mongoose Junction shopping center. The gallery is downstairs in the St. John Properties building.
Banzhaf, 58, works in 18 karat gold. The gallery carries pieces in a variety of mediums and by many artists both local and from the mainland.
They include, among others, St. John oil painters Kat Sowa and Kristin Maize, and oils and pastels by St. John resident Andrea Leland. Leland also produces video documentaries, including one on St. Croix resident and scratch band player Jamesie Brewster, which the gallery also carries.
The gallery also shows raku ceramics by Merryn MacDonald, a 16-year-old who now lives on St. Croix.
Banzhaf was born in Buffalo, N.Y. After attending the Eastman School of Music where he studied saxophone and flute, he realized he didn't want to spend the rest of his life teaching music in high school.
He played jazz and pop music in the area and at weddings before taking up creating silver jewelry as a hobby. From silver, he went to gold and then on to 18 karat gold.
Meanwhile, he started visiting St. John in 1981 to visit friend Peggy Molnar, a fellow Eastman student who had moved to St. John. She owned the long-closed restaurant, The Ship Lantern, located where Dolphin Market now sits in the Boulon Center.
"I fell in love with the place, and I had paid my dues in the cold weather," Banzhaf said of St. John.
After visiting several times a year for 17 years, in 1998 he made St. John his primary residence.
His works are sold at galleries around the country. "I have a large contingency of patron collectors on St. John," he said.
Banzhaf still has a workshop in Rochester, N.Y. He closes the St. John gallery in the slower summer months and heads north to New York.
When he's not creating or keeping the gallery going, he spends time with his "significant other," Claudia Martini, who also works in the gallery.
Michael Banzhaf Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It's open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. The gallery is closed Sundays.
Call the gallery at 779-4005 or visit the gallery's website to see more of what's for sale in the gallery.
Back Talk
Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
