When Emily Wamsley was walking around town last November, she came across a small, historic 1860s log cabin as a potential location for her new business. Despite its sinking and deteriorating structure, she knew that this spot could be turned into something special.
In March, the process began. Wamsley met Andi and Lance Bartels, owners of Antique Alley, and decided that Nature’s Cabin in Antique Alley was the place for her shop, Brilliance Gallery.
The biggest hurdle in setting up the business was not the renovation project at hand, Wamsley said, but the fact that she lived in the Virgin Islands at the time.
Wamsley, 26, grew up on the south side of Indianapolis and had been working in insurance when she decided that she wanted to try something new.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]“I had worked in Indy, commuted to Carmel every day,” she said. “It did not fit my personality.”
She and her husband, Sean, moved to the Caribbean and lived there for three years, where she managed a gallery that printed photos on metal.
When it was time to move home, she asked herself, “What does that look like here?” After the November visit, she decided Nashville was the place. They moved back to Indiana on July 3.
While they were away, the Bartelses got the place ready. They gathered a team to rip out flooring, paint, and even jack up the sinking cabin. “It was full of mold and bugs,” Wamsley said. “It was just rewarding seeing it brought back to life.”
The old goldfish pond outside has been filled and replaced with flowers and landscaping.
It was a group effort, Wamsley said. Her husband, a commercial carpenter, helped in the process. Her grandma and aunts volunteered as well.
The Brilliance Gallery features more than 30 artists, mostly photographers. It prints high-quality images of nature, cityscapes, animals and more on metal.
Wamsley said the name of the gallery just came to her, inspired by the vibrance of the images printed on metal.
“It’s historic, and a neat contrast with the metal,” she said about being in the cabin.
Images are printed in a variety of sizes and come with mounting on the back. She also sells locally made wooden boards, tea towels, tumblers and more.
A rookie in the Nashville scene, Wamsley has found a nice medium between the haste of city life and tranquility of island time.
“I’m loving the country, slower pace,” she said.
The gallery’s first day open was Aug. 22. “It was a great weekend. People responded really well, she said. “They were happy to see the old cabin open.”
Wamsley looks forward to her first October in Antique Alley, where she said other shop owners have “been so nice.”
“A few have come over to welcome me,” she said. “We’re like our own little community.”
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Where: Antique Alley on South Jefferson Street
Hours: Wednesdays through Sundays, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing at 6 p.m. on Saturdays. The gallery is closed Monday and Tuesday.
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