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As many know, Arts on Main – located at 31 North Main Street – tends to be less active during the cold months. 

However, with spring soon upon us, arts and crafts enthusiasts have more reason to celebrate. 

On Wednesday, March 6, Arts on Main re-opened its doors again for a new season. 

“We’ve got all our volunteers ready. We’ve already got the month of March scheduled…so we’re ready to go,” said Ken Howard, president of Winchester Art Guild (WAG). “We are celebrating our sixth year in this building. Every time we’ve moved, it’s been because we’ve needed more space, which is a good problem to have.” 

Arts on Main is the retail store associated with the Winchester Art Guild, which first started meeting nearly 50 years ago and has been a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization since 1978. 

With the mission of supporting the visual arts in the community and everything that it entails, membership to WAG is open for anyone 16 years of age or older. 

At Arts on Main, those who work have a few characteristics in common. 

“Everybody who works here is a member and a volunteer,” Howard added. 

Among the 20 members of the WAG, various names include Julia P. Jones, Sean Carwile, Laura Simpson, Dana McCall, Sue H. White, and more. 

Each already has their artwork and/or crafts displayed throughout the store. 

There are also currently seven consignment members – including Bill McCann and Day 8 Designs – whose works are featured. 

Typical items include both acrylic and oil paintings, pottery, leather goods, and much more. 

However, many artists have unique specialties. 

For example, consignment member Jerald McNutt presents jewelry and creates bottle lamps using non-returnable Ale 8 bottles and others. 

Another consignment member, Jan Milheiser, has a large collection of decorated gnomes that she will donate to the store. 

Ben Greeman, a WAG member, makes different wood items by utilizing tobacco sticks. 

Elizabeth Chalfant, treasurer of the Winchester Art Guild, has produced pillows, lamps, aprons, and various photos – including some of the since taken down Sphar Building. 

With the business describing itself as “uniquely Kentucky,” she went into further detail. 

“Everybody here is from Clark County [and] Winchester, except [for] one person that comes up and volunteers from Somerset,” Chalfant said. “We are uniquely Kentucky. Everybody is right here, and there [are] a lot of Kentucky-themed things that we’re doing.” 

When asked what makes a good artwork or craft, Chalfant confirmed that it is genuinely much in the eye of the beholder. 

“It’s all in the mind’s eye of who sees it,” she said. “It may look [different] to me and it looks wonderful to you. It’s the personality and eye. It’s individual.” 

With both its red awning outside as well as several new display items, plus new cabinets, the business will certainly attract onlookers. 

Plus, among other perks, art students at universities are quite welcome. 

“They don’t have to pay what you call membership dues,” added Chalfant. 

Arts on Main is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 

As do many members of the WAG, Howard hopes to see it add to the town’s ambiance. 

“[People] come in and they see things in here that you can’t find anywhere else, that somebody had made by hand,” he said. “Art is for us to share. It’s not for us to hoard. I want to make art, and everybody in here wants to make art that they can share with folks and just pass that joy on.”