by Bella Erakko
THE ALLIANCE ART GALLERY’S 2nd SATURDAY EVENT, 4:00-7:00 pm April 8, features watercolorist Lynn Garriott Porter, who will give a brief artist’s talk at 6:00. Enjoy a visit to the Gallery, and artist-provided refreshments.
This year marks the Alliance Art Gallery’s 20th anniversary, and we’re bringing back some of our former members beginning with Lynn Garriott Porter. A watercolor and color pencil artist, she reminisces, “I’d never been in a gallery but set myself a goal to join,” becoming one of the earliest members.
As a self-taught artist, she also worked in the medical field as a specialty clinic manager. People saw her art and asked for commissions. “My first big one was a local church.” Barns became commission favorites, as did portraits, though she was also asked to do an Olympic bronze-medal-winning horse.
In 2008, moving from Vandalia to Jefferson City, she left the Alliance, and joined The Art Bazaar where she helped renovate the gallery space. Today, living in Fulton, she offers full range of classes from all-day “watercolor explorations” to private sessions. For most artists, those two outlets—commissions and classes—would be a full-time dream. But Lynn possessed one additional rare-in-an-artist talent. She knew how to manage.
In Fulton, she took on various managerial roles for the Art House, displaying her own art but also teaching several classes. Recognizing a need for art supplies in Fulton, she decided to stock and sell them.
With the onset of Covid, the non-profit Art House could not financially maintain itself, so another chapter opened for Lynn. Fulton, known for its brick-paved streets, works to promote its “Brick District.” Merchants in the District hold annual Holiday Open House events. Lynn participated in one such event as a pop-up for art supplies. She laughs, “There was such a tremendous response that now I rent building space there.” Once a furniture store, it features expansive glass windows that draw interested people into her studio. Today, in addition to doing commissions and teaching classes, she has invited Missouri-focused artists—23 of them—to display and sell their work in her studio. It’s not a co-op; it’s Lynn’s business: hy Garriott Porter Art Studio, LLC.
From the brick bank on Hannibal’s Main Street to the Brick District in Fulton, Lynn carries one constant … art.
