Word got around quickly that the owner of Salem on the Edge was closing the downtown art gallery. Within minutes, Anna Davis and Eric Frey were exchanging messages. The local artists became friends in 2021 while teaching at Chemeketa Community College.  “We’ve got to save Salem on the Edge,” Frey recalled saying. “Salem needs this art space.” The pair now owns the business. The gallery closed on Sept. 28 after previous owner Melanie Weston moved away for an opportunity in Palm Springs, California. It first opened in July 2020. Located at the heart of downtown on Northeast Liberty Street, the narrow space provides an intimate view of the artwork on display. Most pieces are for sale and a few just for viewing. The gallery will reopen for First Friday on Nov. 1 at noon. There will also be a reception from 5-8 p.m. as part of the First Friday Art Walk, which Davis started in 2016. The event turns downtown Salem into a hub of art exhibits, live music and pop-up vendors on the first Friday of every month from 5-8 p.m. It will be open Wednesday through Sunday afternoons. Davis, who grew up in New Mexico, said she has wanted to spend her life in the art world since taking a darkroom photography class in high school. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at Washington State University and taught art as part of her graduate program. But she found herself drawn more to art curation and galleries.  Rather than applying for jobs and moving where she got hired, Davis decided to go where she wanted to live and start cultivating. In 2016, she came to Salem, a place she believed needed more art. “I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather live,” she said. Now, Davis struggles to think of an art institution in Salem that she has not been heavily involved with. She started the First Friday Art Walk while working at Prisms Gallery’s previous downtown location. She also works at the Salem Art Association, where she organizes the annual Salem Art Fair.  Davis currently teaches digital art at Chemeketa and Western Oregon University. She is also on the board of directors for Artists in Action, a Salem nonprofit.  As much as Davis feels a need to create her own art, she said she doesn’t care to make a living from it. She would rather put other people’s work on display. “Elevating other artists and bringing art to the community is really, I feel, a calling,” she said. Frey grew up in West Linn and joined the National Guard when he was 17. He served 24 years, mostly on active duty, and always took photographs to save as mementos from traveling the world. He eventually started submitting his work to international exhibits and was accepted to several. After retiring from the military, Frey planned on becoming a professional photographer.  Having lived in Dallas for around 20 years with his family, he started taking art classes at Western. He decided he didn’t want to make his living shooting photos at weddings and contracted events.  An art professor, recognizing Frey’s work ethic and knack for design, suggested he try his hand at sculptures. By his second term, he was working at the university’s gallery, where he started hanging his own work and later curating exhibitions. Frey graduated in 2019 and went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy.  Frey met Davis during his artist residency at Chemeketa. The two have been involved in local art education since. The pair bonded over their fondness of community-focused work. “Sometimes, to be able to promote somebody’s work feels more important than exhibiting your own,” Frey said. Frey learned about Salem on the Edge after being inspired by the owner’s late husband, David George Anderson, whose work was on display at the Western gallery. He reached out to Weston when she still owned Salem on the Edge about taking part in exhibitions. He eventually presented his work in the gallery’s erotica show, which he and Davis plan to continue every February. The pair had been looking at options for opening a gallery or workshop. When they learned Salem on the Edge was closing, they couldn’t pass. “This is the kind of opportunity I’ve been waiting for,” Davis said. They closed the deal on Oct. 12. Frey and Davis stand in Salem on the Edge on Oct. 25, 2024 (Ardeshir Tabrizian/Salem Reporter) Davis and Frey said that artists can’t ask for a better location to show their work. “Salem loves this gallery,” Davis said. “Salem knows that art’s going to be here. They trust it.” Most of the art being displayed in Salem, Frey said, is not for sale. He and Davis hope that visitors can find art that they want to hang in their home. Around 20 artists’ work will be represented in the gallery’s reopening, mostly from the Salem area with others from Portland and Eugene.  The styles include abstract work, botanical oil paintings, realist landscapes, watercolor and contemporary graphic art. There will be a wide range of prices for both seasoned and novice art collectors. “We want to give people the opportunity to start their journey of collecting art,” Frey said. Frey and Davis said they want to have a mix of established and emerging artists. They have a long-term goal of representing the entire community, including work by Black, artists, Indigenous artists, people of color, queer artists and veterans. “We want to make sure that this is an inclusive space for people to display their art and purchase art,” he said. The gallery only showcases original work. The owners split sales revenue 50/50 with the artists. They plan on having a new exhibition each month.  Visitors who walk in the door are greeted with a graffiti wall, which they plan to refresh every few months.  Both Davis and Frey are passionate about conservation, ecology and environmentalism, and they want to bring in work that represents those themes. They are also planning an annual breakout show to provide an opportunity for promising artists from local art schools who have recently graduated and completed their thesis work. They hope that both students and collectors will one day think of the show as a can’t-miss event. Davis said throughout her career, she has encountered many talented artists and wished she could “give you a wall.” Now, she said she can “find those artists that really deserve to be seen, and I have a place to show it.” RELATED COVERAGE: After sharing fine art downtown, Salem on the Edge to close Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053. 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