An early morning view of the studio (left) from Ellen's front deck. Her studio & showroom may be visited year-round, usually several days a week. There is ample parking pictured and some beyond view. Check the Visit the Studio page for weekly hours or call (302) 539-3405 to schedule a visit during other hours. No purchases are required. You're invited to enjoy the peace and beauty found within.
One of '10 Must-See Galleries and Museums in Delaware'
Ellen started her gallery in 1999 with the desire to "create a place away from the hustle and bustle of tourist traffic where people could come and browse at their leisure and be inspired and uplifted among my paintings and myriad other beautiful art forms."
Within three years, her gallery had become one of the most successful galleries its size in the country.
How it all started
When Ellen opened the doors of the Ellen Rice Gallery on a busy resort byway a couple of miles inland from Bethany Beach, Delaware, it was with a handful of original paintings, a few paintings and the work of several artisans she knew and whose work she'd personally collected over the years.
She'd started over at age 45 after her husband's death, but with a nationally best selling work of art and history on her hands. Although not typical of her work, Treasure Beaches of the Mid-Atlantic paved the way for her work's representation in galleries throughout the country.
Articles about the map's creation appeared in Gannett and AP Wire Service newspapers, appearing from coast to coast, and she found herself appearing on live television, including representing the State of Delaware on QVC's Quest for America's Best.
She opened her gallery in a 650 sq. ft. space in a rustic old building "on a wing and a prayer." She had no retail experience. Her work had been selling well and she hoped that with a serene setting to display more of her paintings she could manage to make both the gallery's and her home's expenses.
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," is an inspiration she clung to. She signed the lease on April 1, of all days.
The week she signed the lease, a woman she didn't know bought a small original painting over the phone and asked if she could buy a larger in-progress one over time. The woman purchased "Above the Clouds" and made arrangements to buy Ellen's first Strength of Woman Series painting, "Standing on the Rock" paying for it monthly for a year. Her payments covered the gallery's entire first year of base expenses almost exactly.
The sale gave Ellen the confidence to invest more of her painting income in the gallery, gradually adding lighting, equipment, showcases and buying wholesale from fine, all American, artisans who created in a variety of media.
She discovered that for as little as the price of one or two prints she could help introduce one new emerging artist. Her investment in their work helped them, added depth to her gallery and gave her customers ways to support American creativity while finding unique, well made gifts and art for their homes.
The gallery succeeded far beyond her dreams. She'd wanted it to be a haven, filled with beauty and fine craftsmanship and a laugh or two along the way. Each new artist and every single piece of art made by them was hand picked with this in mind - and still is.
Within a few years, the gallery was named a national NICHE Top Retailer Award Finalist for its representation of and dealings with only American artisans.
In 2018, despite some difficult challenges like the "Great Recession" and four years of road construction directly in front of her gallery, the Ellen Rice Gallery was named one of "10 Must-See Galleries and Museums in Delaware" by an international cultural review group with offices in major cities around the world, The Culture Trip.
Ellen also garnered numerous awards and accolades, a few of them being named "One of Delaware's most collectible shore artists" (Delaware Beach Life Magazine), PNC Bank's "2014 Artist of the Year" and more recently, Coastal Style Magazine's "Best Artist" Delaware, five times, including this year. Many others would follow.
It is Covid and Ellen's landlord's decision to sell the gallery's building that finally forced a new way of offering her and her artisans' works to you ~ in a purposefully built studio and showroom on her property on the edge of the James Farm Ecological Preserve on the northeastern outskirts of Ocean View, Delaware, what has proved to be a good move.
"I'd thought about building my own studio on my property for year, but was always too afraid to do it and we were doing so well where we were for so long. I guess you get more cautious after challenge after challenge beyond your control hits you."
After the landlord put the gallery building up for sale, Ellen designed, then built, her new wide open, beautifully lit with floor to ceiling glass windows on the North side of the studio.
And now The Ellen Rice Studio & Gallery continues its journey, in its different, off-the-beaten path location, one day at a time, one step at a time, continuing to listen for God's direction.
We are grateful for your part in our story.
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We are open all year.
You can shop 24-7, 365 on Ellen's website:
And by phone:
We ship all in-stock orders, excluding original paintings and other fragile
works of art that require special transportation, the same or next business day.
See a few pics of the studio's ongoing development above and below.
