Spotlight: Village Arts ... The Little Store That Could

Spotlight: Village Arts … The Little Store That Could

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on April 15, 2021
- 9:45 am

Ken Nebel helps customers Frank Tarantello and Shelly Wiemann choose the right frame Monday, while Kathy Nebel helps Kathy Gursky, find the perfect frame and matte for her needlework. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com

Petra Fajardo puts years of framing to good use Monday at Village Arts. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com

Ken Nebel helps Frank Tarantello and Shelly Wiemann choose a frame. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com

By BONNIE J. GORDON
Los Alamos Daily Post
bjgordon@ladailypost.com

Village Arts has been a Los Alamos mainstay for many years. It started in White Rock and moved to the townsite in 1983.

“Marilyn Warren owned and ran Village Arts in its Central Park Square location from some time in the 1990s to around 2008,” current owner Ken Nebel said. “I had returned to Los Alamos after college and was working at Village Arts. When Marilyn decided to retire, I couldn’t bear to see it close.”

High rents posed a problem, but Jim O’Donnell owned a building on DP Road and the two men went into business together. Nebel bought O’Donnell’s share after three years, he said.

“We redid a lot of the space,” Nebel said. “We had to dismantle a giant walk-in freezer. It’s been everything from a restaurant to a machine shop.”

“Art supplies have become a much bigger part of the business since I took over,” Nebel said. “I didn’t have the background to do the housewares Marilyn carried. Now we concentrate on art supplies and of course, framing.”

Ken’s mom, Kathy Nebel, works full time at the store.

“Mom knows every inch of the space,” Nebel said. “Most of the current staff worked for Marilyn at some point. We have decades and decades of experience as framers here at the store.”

Village Arts carries a huge array of frames and the employees pride themselves on their abilitity to find just the right frame and the perfect matte, Nebel said.

The weirdest thing they have ever framed at Village Arts?

“A stuffed bat,” Nebel said. “It had to come out of the frame and go back in … I never found out why. I framed a Nobel Prize for the Historical Museum. Once we framed a collection of barbed wire. We did once frame a toenail, but that story is better left untold.”

Nebel and his staff of four or five employees are anxious to get to longer hours and holding exhibits at the store.

“We have a paint-by-numbers and diamond dots exhibit coming up,” he said. “We won’t be having an opening but at least we can have an exhibit. This one celebrates people’s at-home crafting during the pandemic. We sell the kits here at the store.”

Life on DP Road has been a bumpy ride for Village Arts. First came the construction of Smith’s Marketplace, a year long project. Then there was the new roundabout, which has taken two years and counting. Now DP Road itself is being redone. Add to that the truckloads of waste emerging daily from the former Lab site at the end of the road and it has been difficult for shoppers to reach the store. Now add a pandemic to the mix.

“Thank goodness we’re in a good community of loyal customers,” Nebel said. “People follow our rules and want us to succeed. But make no mistake, we need customers to brave the construction and come to the store. We’re one of the few retail stores on DP Road. Don’t forget we’re here!”

Nebel also is the assistant director of the Los Alamos Arts Council and has been director of Fuller Lodge Art Center for a number of years. With the Center closed during the pandemic, he has spent more time at the store. Currently, he spends two days a week at the Art Center.

“We’re getting back to regular store hours gradually,” Nebel said. “We’ll stay late if someone asks us to. Currently, we’re open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. We’ll also deliver people’s orders.”

“It’s been quite a journey,” Nebel said. “I have great framing mentors here at the store. I never thought I’d get excited to go to a framing convention. Now I can’t wait.”

Village Arts is at 216 DP Road. Visit them online at villageartsframing.com. Call the store during business hours at 505.661.2526

Kathy Nebel helps customer Kathy Gursky select a matte Monday. Photo by Bonnie J. Gordon/ladailypost.com