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Rachel Parkhurst
6 | June 2009 Community Impact Newspaper • Georgetown/Hutto/Taylor Edition
Business Profile Framer’s Gallery Georgetown
Framer Kimi Chapman and a gicleé, a digitally altered photograph printed on canvas.
By Suzanne Haberman
Whether hand selecting and
cutting mat and molding for
family photos, local artists’
works or sentimental treasures,
Fred Bolgen considers framing
an art form.
“Framing should be a completion
of the artist’s intent,”
Bolgen said.
Framer’s Gallery has been
open just off the Square in
Georgetown since 2005 when
Bolgen came out of retirement
New Office Policy:
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to pursue a two-part business
venue. Framer’s Gallery offers
custom framing and restoration
services and also displays art.
The dual purpose of Framer’s
Gallery is evident from the front
door. On the wall behind the
front desk of the shop and gallery
hangs Bolgen’s 2,400 frame
choices. Bolgen also exhibits
more than 100 photos, paintings
and framed works on the gallery’s
4,100 sq. ft. of wall space through
a collaboration with the Williamson
County Art Guild and the
Central Texas Pastel Society.
The association connects
him to local artists whose work
he rotates through the gallery
monthly. Exhibits have drawn
200 to 300 visitors on First
Fridays, a monthly event with
live music and activities during
which businesses on the Square
stay open until 8 p.m.
The gallery section of Framer’s
Gallery is eye catching,
but framing generates Bolgen’s
income. Compared to his competition,
Bolgen said he offers
more choices at lower prices.
What makes his store unique
is his full-service and custom
approach of offsetting art with
frames so that the piece is “more
special than the border around
the image,” he said.
Sonia Mathis has worked at
Framer’s Gallery for four and a
half years. She said she likes the
freedom Bolgen gives her.
“We can follow ... what the
designer is looking for,” she said.
Creativity and custom service
are evident throughout the gallery.
In the shop window facing
Main Street, Bolgen displays his
childhood fork and spoon set
with a photograph of himself
and his mother. On a column
near the service desk, Bolgen
exhibits a few of his most innovative
works, including a
hodge-podge design he called
the “Frankenstein line,” which
developed around a customer’s
special request.
A man walked into the store
and pulled from his wallet a 1
cent check that his grandmother
made out to him for Christmas
as a joke, Bolgen recalled. The
catch: the customer didn’t want to
spend any more on framing than
the check was worth. The man
only joked, but Framer’s Gallery
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accepted the challenge.
Mathis headed to a heap of
discarded matting, chose four
colors that complemented the
frayed check and tore the pieces
by hand to create a backdrop.
Bolgen followed suit for the frame
and pieced four unmatched, discarded
corners into a square.
Bolgen entered the framed
check in a national framing
competition and won the
judges’ award for best first-time
entry in the open division.
“The judges loved it because we
did everything right, but we did it
outside of the box,” Bolgen said.
Since then, Framer’s Gallery
has entered more pieces into the
show and won recognition on
the state and national levels.
n
7th St.
Austin Ave.
Framer’s Gallery
610 Main St.
863-2214
Main St.
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