Gallery on First gets new leadership, keeps folk art mission intact

A fresh coat of paint and some redecorating are the most visible changes at 211 E. 1st St., but the bigger shift at Gallery on First is leadership. Tammy Lennox has taken over as director after Jeanine Taylor’s retirement, while ownership remains with Howard Marks and Aurore Marks, a structure meant to keep the transition smooth inside one of downtown Sanford’s best-known arts spaces.

What does not change is the gallery’s core identity. Gallery on First, formerly Jeanine Taylor Folk Art, is staying rooted in contemporary folk art, especially Southern and Florida folk art, with rotating exhibitions and an open, process-driven setting that puts working artists in front of the public. The space still functions as both gallery and studio, not just a retail stop on First Street.

That matters in practical terms for Sanford’s arts economy. Historic Downtown Sanford describes the venue as a working space for professional and emerging artists that invites visitors into the artistic process through shows, events, education and conversations with working artists. The gallery also continues its residency program, giving 12 artists from different mediums on-site studio space in a shared collaborative environment.

For buyers, the appeal remains consistency. Jeanine Taylor Folk Art was founded in 1997, and the gallery’s long emphasis on folk art gave downtown Sanford a recognizable niche that drew collectors looking for handmade work with a regional voice. The historic Hotchkiss Building, where the gallery is located, adds to that draw. Local listings place the building in the 1880s, with dates cited at 1882 and 1887.

The public calendar also stays familiar. Gallery on First holds Open Studio events on the third Saturday of each month from 6 to 9 p.m., the same window as Sanford Art Walk, which helps concentrate foot traffic in the downtown core. That overlap gives First Street a steady monthly burst of visitors, diners and browsers moving between galleries and shops.

The gallery’s role in Sanford’s cultural footprint has extended beyond its walls, too. In 2020, Gallery on First artists helped unveil Sanford’s first mural on the west side of the Hotchkiss Building, a 63-foot work in the alley between the gallery and Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café.

Under Lennox, success will likely be measured less by reinvention than by stability: whether resident artists keep making work on-site, whether Open Studio nights keep filling the building, and whether the gallery continues to anchor First Street as a place where art, visitors and downtown commerce still meet.