The Golden Gallery was started way back in 1977, as a way for Mary Ellen Golden to sell her watercolors and limited edition reproductions and the music of her folksinger/storyyteller husband, John C. Golden. A few years after the gallery opened, their son, John W. Golden, began to create artwork of his own and sell it in the gallery.
The Gallery started out in the Cotton Exchange, a complex of buildings from the early 1900's that onced housed warehouses, sallons and the likes, but is now home to a unique collection of shops and restaurants. As part of Wilmington, North Carolina's most unique shopping experience, the Golden Gallery is one of the oldest original owners of a Cotton Exchange shop. We are now in our 5th location within the Cotton Exchange.
What really makes the Golden Gallery unique is the artists. Simply put, with one small exception, they are all Goldens. Folks seem so surprised when we tell them the story of how the gallery started and how it's run and where the art comes from. So...we got curious and started looking around and doing a little research. From what we can tell, there aren't a whole lot of galleries out there that are owned and operated by the family of artists who creates the art they sell. We found one in the Northeast US, but we haven't found another yet in the Southeast US.
About the Artists
Mary Ellen Golden - Watercolorist
Mary Ellen began painting at the age of 12, and spent her teenage years working in oils. In the early 1970's, she began to study watercolor in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1977, after a move to Wilmington, North Carolina, she opened the Golden Gallery. She has since become a master of the watercolor medium, and because of her extensive career chronicling Wilmington through images of its landmarks, she is many folks artist of choice when looking for a way to preserve their memories of the Cape Fear region.
John Golden - Folksinger and Storyteller
John learned to play the guitar in the early 1960's, and was drawn to the folk music movement. Over the years, he developed an interest in storytelling. He specializes in historically-based tales, and his work is a delight to young and old alike. CDs of his songs and stories are available in the gallery
John W. Golden - Photographer and Digital Illustrator
Following in the footsteps of both parents, John W. Golden is both a visual artist and a musician. He has used those skills to help create projects for Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, HGTV and many more. He has been creating art since he was 14 years old, and working in photography for 20 years.
As a photographer, John is well-known for his extensive catalog of images of the Cape Fear region, and as an illustrator, he was an early adopter of digital illustration and printing techniques, and has made a name for himself by recreating tradion techniques digitally.
Melissa Manley - Metalsmith (and honorary Golden)
Melissa Manley is an accomplished metalsmith who has been working for the Golden Gallery for off and on for 20 years. Her work is inpired by the sea and is unlike anything you have seen before.
