Mel Meo opens gallery at PICC
From the local fire station to Bert’s Bar and Pinebay Gallery, Mel Meo’s fingerprints are all over Pine Island. Every artist dreams of having his or her own gallery and Meo is no different.
The Pine Island Community Church Thrift Store has dedicated one of its many bays to Meo, where she paints, repurposes furniture and shares not only her own, but a slough of work from other artists.
After getting hired to help manage the store, Meo said she mostly stayed away from the clothes racks and man cave, and then one day it occurred to her that one of the bays could actually be more of a gallery.
“Right after that a Rauschenberg book came in,” said Meo, crediting the late artist with being one of her mentors. “I still talk to him like here’s here, so I said, wow Bob, what do you think-would this make a great gallery or what?”
Meo said the first thing she did was to make the bay seem more like a gallery with some painting and very basic refurbishing. She also pairs things that come in to go together for people who may not have the instinct to combine things in the way she does. Feeling that it would be a crime to let a signed original piece of fine art go for around $5, Meo keeps her eyes open for genuine collectibles and makes people aware of their true value after the items have been looked up for appropriate pricing.
She said collectors have made a habit of stopping in at the gallery, sometimes coming as much as three times a week.
Of course, the genuine collectibles found at PICC are heavily discounted compared to the value of the pieces but as Meo said, when someone buys one of her’s, or another artist’s work, they’ve not only gained the piece but are also giving back to the church and therefore the community.
“Our church,” said Meo, “does the food pantry, we help people in bad situations, we help the homeless.”
Meo would like to build a loft in the gallery and also to teach classes, as she said many people ask and her greatest joy in all of this is to give back to the community. Although evidence of her talent and passion are well known all over the island, Meo admits to having been so shy that there were times she would have to dress up and play a character at an event, rather than go as herself.
Having reconnected with some old friends and clients from her days on Useppa Island, Meo said, has been really great. Like most artists, there is no shortage on creativity for Meo, as she explains how she once had several artists contribute work on a dress that was then auctioned, at what has since become a theme-based auction.
Although her life has changed in several ways over the years art has remained an unchanging steadying force in her life.
“This place is just about being a gallery thrift store,” said Meo. “It was just so odd, it had to work…it’s already working.”