A downtown Bellefonte gallery shop is closing this month after five years in business.
Art a la Carte, located at 107 S. Allegheny St. in the Brockerhoff Building, will close its doors on Feb. 29, owner Elizabeth Hay announced this week.
The shop will hold a Customer Appreciation Sale starting Wednesday.
Hay opened Art a la Carte in 2019 as an artisan collective where local artists could showcase their work while connecting with each other and the community. While the endeavor has been successful, running the business has occupied “an exceptional amount of time” for Hay as its sole proprietor, she said.
She is closing the shop to get back to making her own art, which includes jewelry making and wool felting, and to explore new techniques.
“I haven’t had any time to create, and I’m looking forward to going back to creating full time,” Hay said. “It’s been great. We’ve done well. We’ve connected a lot of people and had a lot of success, but it’s time to move on to something else.”
Hay has championed dozens of artists who have been part of the collective, and she said developing that community has been among her proudest achievements at Art a la Carte.
“It’s been mentoring emerging artists and also creating this wonderful web of people that we have now that wouldn’t have met otherwise,” she said.
Patrons can check out sales on artists’ work at the shop 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays until closing.
Art a la Carte’s Facebook page will remain active for artists to share their work and for information about upcoming local shows. It will also have a list of each of the artists’ individual pages.
“I’ve been so fortunate to have such amazing artists to work with,” Hay said. “I hope the community will continue to embrace local artists’ work, and share the wonder and joy of handmade art.”
