Celebrating 30 Years!
IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO this month that we opened Tanner Chaney Gallery. Plenty of people said it wouldn't work. It had been years since a store of exclusively quality, handmade Indian jewelry had opened in Old Town. The trend was toward mass produced or manufactured, many times imported, mostly non-Indian made jewelry. But the real thing was honestly all we knew, having been wholesalers to the trade. And we were young, full of optimism and enthusiasm and passion. And so were, we discovered, the artists and the customers, both excited about this new venture that felt already like an old friend.
Many of the artists really were old friends from our years as wholesalers. And from the day we opened, the store grew the circle of friends to include visitors from around the world. Those friendships have been a surprise and a source of real comfort and joy.
We didn't realize the store would also grow our family. A lot we didn't know when we started. And a lot has changed over thirty years. We have opened stores, raised kids, closed some stores, hired our son, Nick, to create a website, moved locations in Old Town, been blessed wth grandkids, hired our daughter, Allison, as director of social media and web tech, and actually took a vacation in there. We have lasted long enough to be considered the old guard. We don't feel old enough to be the old guard. We don't even feel wise enough for that. We do, however, feel grateful. And we're in the mood to celebrate this milestone. We figure it took us thirty years to get here, so celebrating our artists and customers and the store is worthy of a year.
We have plans to feature artists in the store, plans for special events, for special sales and a celebration party. We're planning semi-monthly newsletters (about every two weeks) with articles looking back, looking forward, and announcements of events. So stay tuned to us by Facebook and newsletter.
The Party!
We had such a great time at our 30th birthday party Saturday night with friends and artists, musicians and food. If you made it in to see us, thank you! We loved sharing our joy and gratitude with you. And if you couldn't make it, we missed you! Here are some photos for you to enjoy. We feel truly blessed to still be here after so many years, and we have you and the artists to thank, all of you awesome and wonderful.
