Meet Laura Kratz of Studio 8369 in Grand Lake

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Kratz.

Laura, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Although I was born in Denver, I was raised in the Kansas City area which is where I met my husband Keith. We raised four children there. During that time we visited Grand county annually on vacation. Seven years ago the two of us came out for an anniversary trip, realizing that our children had left the nest we decided it was time to pursue our dream. We went back to KC, quit our jobs and sold most of our belongings. We moved to the mountains and started over! At first we took jobs for other people. I managed a popular gift shop in town, which gave me lots of experience in merchandising, but after a few years realized that we wanted to be our own bosses. It had always been a dream of ours to own a gallery, and what a better place than Grand Lake to do that. Since I am an artist and my husband a photographer we knew it would be a good move. (Side Bar: I am a self-taught oil painter, prior to learning to oil paint I had painted for Hallmark in KC for 20 years. I worked for their Keepsakes division, painting prototypes of Christmas ornaments.)

Being an artist myself and painting in Plein air competitions, I had met many artists from across the country. When we decided to buy the existing Grand Lake Art Gallery (which had been around for many years), we were able to transform the space bringing in artists not only from Colorado but professional working artists from all over the country. We represent over 70 artists in a large variety of mediums, including painting, pottery, wood, jewelry, textiles and photography. We strive to keep high standards while also providing a variety that allows people to purchase art no matter their budget. We understand that being in a tourist town we may actually be someone’s first visit to a fine art gallery and we are happy to report that we have opened the door for many people to realize they to can become collectors! It has been fun to open their eyes and introduce them to the art world.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The hardest part was making the plunge… once we decided to buy the gallery we had to clean the house so to speak. We had to transform the space itself (3900 sq.ft), which we did ourselves… but we also had to decide which artists to keep and which new artists would fit our space. It is always hard to make those decisions, but making those changes breathed new life into space and made it totally unique… Well worth all the hard work.

We also struggled with the name. We decided that since the gallery would include my working studio space to drop the word gallery from the name. We also felt that the work gallery was intimidating to some people. Including the altitude of our location was how we got the numbers, and Studio 8369 was born.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Studio 8369 story. Tell us more about your art.
Although the space is large, I like to break it into smaller areas and display the artwork, whether it is pottery, blown glass or a painting in a setting that makes the viewer feel like they are in their own homes. I think the atmosphere we have created is the thing we get the most remarks about. People feel comfortable here and love to come and be inspired by what surrounds them. We are not a pretentious gallery, and many families come and shop together from young parents to retirees. We also love that no matter what you are looking for (and you may not even know what that is), you may find it here, we can suit any budget and you can spend as little as $5 or upwards of $5,000, but walk away completely happy.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Tons, I have been lucky to have a partner in life that supports all my crazy ideas like moving to the mountains! and lucky to know and meet so many creative talented people that we have been able to support by selling their art. Bad luck has also played a part, moving to the high country was not as idyllic as one might think. I had been a professional painter and painted every day. I had to get a “real” job… at first working in a local lodge, then a souvenir shop and then managing a home decor/gift shop. This left little time for me to paint, and I found myself saying to people that I “used to be an artist”, ugh! It can be a real struggle to find work that is fulfilling and still allows you time to be creative. I think that those stepping stones of working those jobs (starting at $8 an hour) taught me SO much about the business I would one day open myself, so I consider it good luck in the long run.

Also, Keith was not happy working three jobs just to make ends meet, and after our first season in the gallery he was able to quit his job and come to work with me… we are a true mom and pop shop.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1117 Grand Ave, Grand Lake, CO
• Website: http://Studio8369fineart.com
• Phone: 970-627-3104
• Email: studio8369@gmail.com

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