Three Rivers Gallery & Custom Framing
Three Rivers Gallery was created in Cedarburg, Wisconsin in 1999 by Elly, Steve, and Jeremy Johnson. Elly had been working on her photography and exhibiting in art shows for more than eight years.
Her favorite blue ribbon came at a major show in Galena, Illinois when one of the judges argued that her photograph matched its title perfectly and was also a very nice picture. The photograph was Floodlight, an evening picture of the flooding Mississippi River at a small park in Davenport, Iowa. A large light fixture near the boat ramp was standing in flood water and was keeping company with a small duck swimming around its base.
The judge was Archie Lieberman, author and former photographer for Look Magazine, Paris Match and others. Elly believed that such praise from an established, known photographer was actually worth more than the blue ribbon.
Soon after this, it became necessary for Steve to have coronary by-pass surgery. Later, when Steve opted for less stressful work , the three decided to establish the gallery and custom framing business. Steve and Jeremy attended the Larson-Juhl Framing School which gave the framing department a good start. Jeremy works full-time elsewhere but now works in the gallery an afternoon each week to keep up with hands-on experience.
After the move from Cedarburg to Arkansas, the gallery was re-opened in Bella Vista in March, 2003. Elly provides photography for the gallery, handles project design, finances and ordering and helps with the actual framing. Steve checks all the measurements and does all the actual framing. It is our company goal to provide the best product for each customer----and we will work until we get it right!
In Bella Vista, we continue to deliver quality products and customer service while always working on honing our skills. Elly designs beautiful pieces for customers because of her expertise with colors and her knowledge of available materials from matboard to frames. She is always happy to display her slides to help customers get the right images for their projects. We have over 1500 frame samples and matboards from several companies as well as many ideas to help customers design their art projects.
We welcome you all to Three Rivers Gallery and Custom Framing!!
