MENOMONIE - While volunteering at River Heights School, UW-Stout art major Hannah Schroeder admired the beauty in the children's artwork.
Then she saw a storefront at 111 Main St. E. and realized the space could be a gallery, a place where anyone could display and sell their creative works.
She started talking with college friends, her father and a professor and realized she could help start a cooperative gallery.
Schroeder, seven other UW-Stout students and two community members are board members of Gallery 111, which is named after the store's address.
"It's an art gallery we co-own," Schroeder, 21, said. "We can all show our art in it."
The gallery will have its grand opening Jan. 11. Art from everybody who volunteered to paint the gallery and founding members will be shown. Regular gallery business hours have not yet been determined.
As owners, when they sell their art, they keep 100 percent of the profits.
Others can join the cooperative as sustainable artists. For level one, which costs $5 a month, artists keep 60 percent of the profits of personal sales. At level 2, for $8 a month, artists keep 70 percent. Level 3 sustainable artists pay $20 a month and keep 90 percent.
Other artists can negotiate a fee, and the co-op will keep 50 percent of the profits of personal sales, Schroeder said.
The money kept by the cooperative goes to cover costs of keeping the gallery open, Schroeder said. This includes lights, heat, insurance and maintenance.
"Every month the art is going to be fresh," said Schroeder, of Roseville, Minn. "We open our doors to art of any medium."
The gallery will feature plays, poetry readings, independent films, sculptures, paintings, mixed media and fashion shows.
Two or three times a year, the co-op will host a salon show. Artists can hang their art on the wall, filling the gallery, and then the co-op board will pick whose work they wish to feature.
Schroeder said the galleries at UW-Stout don't feature many opportunities for students to show their work.
Gallery 111 also gives community artists a space for their work, said Anthone Hendrickson, 24, a UW-Stout art studio major and a board member.
"Community members, even if they are not so-called artists, may not know how to approach a gallery for an exhibition," Hendrickson said.
Fundraising is being done to help with costs. Earlier this month a dance was held at Acoustic Cafe to pay to replace the floor.
The group is selling recordings from local musicians called "East of the River" for $5 plus shipping and handling to raise money.
Operating a gallery is one of Schroeder's career goals.
"I want to curate shows for a living," she said. "I want to own a gallery or cafe or another venue."
Powers can be reached at 715-556-9018 or pamela.powers@ecpc.com.
