Recap: Art by adults and students mix at new co-op, Yazzy's at www.williamaverdult.com

Steve Healey / The Star

According to the IndyStar.com, Blue Egg Gallery will offer a variety of options for art lovers -- from viewing works by emerging high school artists to purchasing works from Indiana professionals.

The gallery, in a 100-plus-year-old home at 430 N. Range Line Road in Carmel, has been open for about four weeks, but is holding its grand opening today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The collection includes works from 16 local professional artists who formed a co-op, said Robyn Brown, executive director.

"What a co-op does is it takes the risk out of it for everyone involved," she said. "I own the building, but I don't have to go at it alone on the expenses. All the artists contribute to running the gallery, but none of them individually bear the risk of having a whole gallery for themselves. They get some space and a really neat place to paint if they want to."

About one third of the adult artists are from Carmel, and several are teachers at the Indianapolis Art Center in Broad Ripple. The co-op is searching for more artists who would like to join and exhibit their work.

"We have a wide range of artists, from very accomplished, to emerging artists from Carmel High School and University High School," Brown said. "It's really a nice collection."

Currently, there are about 16 students exhibiting one work each, but in the future the gallery will highlight three to four students with several works from each.

Each adult artist gets about 40 square feet of space to display their work, and everything is up for sale.

"They each keep their work together so patrons can get an idea for the type of work," Brown said. "We have their biographies on the wall, so it's easy to see and know about them."

Brown's company, Red Robyn Realty, sponsors the gallery and is located in a building behind the gallery. Brown's other company, Blue Egg Enterprises, owns the entire property and therefore provided the name for the gallery.

The gallery holds more than 200 pieces, including paintings, weavings, stained glass and fine art photography, Brown said. The gallery is hoping to get more 3-D pieces including pottery and jewelry.

Visits to the gallery are free, and works range in price from prints starting at $15 all the way up to originals for $1,800, Brown said.