Photos by Marie Mccolm A ribbon cutting and open house were held for Pareidolia Art Gallery on Saturday, Sept. 30, in Downtown Monte Vista. Gallery owner Jennifer Graves was ecstatic with the grand opening and all-day open house celebration.

MONTE VISTA — A ribbon cutting and open house were held for Pareidolia Art Gallery on Saturday, Sept. 30, in Downtown Monte Vista.

The Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce and The OptiMystics Citizens Action Network organized the event at 125 Adams St.

Gallery owner Jennifer Graves was ecstatic with the grand opening and all-day open house celebration.

“It is a real honor to be among so many wonderful people in the community here in Monte Vista,” Graves said. “I am beyond excited for this grand opening and looking forward to meeting with everyone here and showing everyone around the gallery.”

Graves gave a huge smile to the over 30 people that attended the ribbon cutting as she sliced the ribbon with the big scissors in front of her gallery.

Graves, who began her art in 2019, by looking at images and watching internet videos depicting Pareidolia art, spoke about her genuine love for art and how it fascinated her to watch the videos.

“I tell people I have only been an artist since 2019, and people laugh but this is so true,” she said. “I was not artistically inclined at a young age but became interested in art in 2019.  I watched these videos and saw these images. This art just looked so beautiful and more than anything it looked fun. I have heard the saying when you love what you do it will never become work to you, and I truly love what I do. I feel so grateful to be able to have this gallery and share it with everyone. For me this is really exciting.”

Graves displays and sells art in her gallery, and she also sells vintage jewelry, handmade items, fine China, clothing, and she has both men’s and women’s sections with artistic items.

“When I started my gallery, I really wanted a paint studio,” she said. “I loved to paint, the Pareidolia art just fascinated me, and I wanted a space to create paintings. I happened upon this store front and thought wow, I can turn this into a gallery. I began building on the art and adding more items, as I traveled to different places. I would just find all these things that held some type of artistic ambience to me. I want to share them with the world, that is why I am selling them in my gallery. It is not only a gallery to me but a store front where I can share the gift of art and artistic items with many people. In time, I am hoping to showcase artists from the Valley along with my art, and even hold art shows. I am beyond excited to be a part of this great community and hope to be here for many years to come.”

Graves said that during her ribbon cutting and open house celebration she had about 100 people come in and out throughout the day. She said business-wise it was her best day ever. Graves has been in business since May but decided to do her ribbon cutting ceremony later in the year.

“I felt this was the best time to have this. I want to thank the OptiMystics and the Chamber of Commerce for holding the ribbon cutting ceremony, this really means the world to me,” Graves said.

OptiMystics CAN president Adam Lock said it was good to see everyone working together to promote business downtown.

“There is so much good transpiring in our downtown district and we’re proud to be a supporting part of it. Together we’re helping to create a vibrant business community,” he said.

Graves said people don’t realize it, but the type of art she paints is in the world.

“I love people’s interpretation of my work; I never know what people are going to see,” she said. “People don’t realize but Pareidolia is actually all around us. It’s in the clouds, some people can see images in the clouds. The word Pareidolia means to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random visual pattern. I always love to hear what people see in my work. Some people see faces, some people see fire, some people have even seen animals. My dad always sees dragons in every one of my paintings. I love interpretation of my art. What a wonderful community. I thank everyone for letting me be a part of it all. I am proud to be part of the initial revitalization of Adams Street.”

For more information on the gallery, contact Graves at 719-992-8776.