Michael Hertrich Art and Frame on Pittsburghs South Side

Upwards and Fine art: Michael Hertrich moves his gallery to the "center of everywhere."

Sometimes, you lot discover art in the virtually unlikely of places

For instance, above a shoe shop.

That's where yous'll detect Hertrich Fine Fine art, on the second flooring of a rather modest commercial building in Midtown Harrisburg. In August, Michael Hertrich and hubby Paul Cannon moved their gallery from Pittsburgh to the heart of Midtown, simply a few doors downwards from the Susquehanna Art Museum.

On the day I visited, classical music played in the groundwork as Hertrich gear up the master gallery for a coming together of the local group, the Well-nigh Uptown Poesy Dare. The walls are covered in pieces representing a multifariousness of mediums and featuring varied artists, such equally Harrisburg local Kevyn Knox, whose self-taught quirky and colorful abstract faces Hertrich speaks highly of.

On a quick tour of the residual of the infinite, Hertrich pointed out his framing workshop, interior design studio and the Adam and Eve-inspired pieces he is currently working on by painting over canvass collages. The multifariousness of his talent and interests seems effortlessly cohesive as we toured each room.

Hertrich described himself equally a correct brain/left brain person.

He began his academic career at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania with the intention of becoming a math teacher, eventually realizing he was compelled to pursue a career rooted in the arts. He initially moved into architecture and served every bit the student museum board fellow member, assisting with the opening of the IUP museum.

It was during this time that Hertrich began to learn conservation, matting and framing, all skills he has continued to apply over the last 30 years. He eventually moved into fine arts, graduating with a BFA, and managed several art galleries before opening his own on the south side of Pittsburgh in 1989.

So, what inspires him?

"I don't take a favorite artist," he said. "I like whatever catches my center."

He went on to to depict his particular fondness for the "color field" style of painting, a movement led by Mark Rothko, whose work reminds Hertrich of his ain. He and his husband are besides deeply passionate about photography, traveling every bit far every bit Paris to view exhibitions.

The name Pablo Picasso then came up.

"If an artist wants to report how to become well known in their field, they should option up a book nigh Picasso," he said. "His free energy, bulldoze and work ethic are unbelievable. Wait at people who are household names to u.s.a., non even only in art. Warhol never stopped, Madonna never stopped, even Martha Stewart, she never stopped."

Hertrich never stops either, but has shifted his focus since moving to Harrisburg.

While the conclusion to move was contingent on Cannon'south career, Hertrich welcomed the change as they chop-chop adopted Midtown as their habitation. The move went smoothly despite the task of transporting more than 20,000 pieces of their personal collection. His Pittsburgh gallery pieces were initially placed in storage every bit he had considered retiring to paint, simply that didn't terminal long once he started looking at properties and came across the second-floor space on tertiary Street.

Hertrich Fine Art is a smaller functioning than the Pittsburgh gallery, an intentional decision to scale back. Inhabiting the upper floor allows him to be more selective about hours of functioning. At this indicate in his career, he is invested in mentoring and giving back to the art community. Describing himself as an old-school gallery owner, he takes pride in developing a few artists, rather than flipping the fine art work on the walls every few months.

Promoting the arts has remained the most important component to Hertrich'due south work. He is passionate almost the opportunity to practice and so in a city that he believes has a wealth of art for its size, touching not just on the visual arts only poetry, theater and music. Another bonus is the city's proximity to major East Coast fine art destinations such as New York.

"I don't think Harrisburgers even realize the jewel they accept," he said. "People hither have a tendency to say they're in the center of nowhere. And I say, no, you're in the middle of everywhere."

Hertrich Fine Art is located at 1421 Due north. 3rd St, second floor, Harrisburg. More information, visit world wide web.mhartframe.com.