POTTSTOWN PA – To many artists and art lovers, choosing the right frame in which to exhibit a work often is as important as choosing the art itself. Proper framing can make a piece pop from a wall, or attract the eye in special ways. Sometimes frames even serve as an enhanced extension of an artist’s creativity.
Those are lessons to be appreciated in coming months by student artists at Pottstown High School.
The owners of the Anno Artem Art Gallery and Studio, at 1 Security Plz. Ste. 202, and Pottstown High art teacher Elizabeth Yoder, are working to present a March student exhibit at the gallery. As part of the effort, they are collaborating on a project to ensure the students’ pieces are suitably framed.
They could use the public’s help to overcome what’s described as a “big roadblock.”
Anno Artem owner, CEO, and Creative Director Anthony Nowack, and co-owner and COO Danielle Kangas, believe the students – like any other artists – deserve the value that proper framing adds to each piece. Meeting that need isn’t easy.
Got Empty Frames! Donate Them, Please?
They acknowledge frames can be expensive. Moreover, money to buy frames – and mounting materials needed to best display works for exhibition – isn’t readily available. But Nowack and Kangas know a secret.
Stored in drawers, cabinets, closets, attics, and other forgotten hiding places in homes and businesses across the borough, they’re confident dozens – perhaps even hundreds – of unused frames are gathering dust. They hope those frames, of any size and type, can be donated to the project.
Anno Artem has already “put a call out to our community,” Nowack says. It is asking frame owners to generously give those treasures by dropping them off at the gallery during its regular business hours, Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
“Just bring your frames to us, and we’ll get them to the teachers,” he adds. Yoder reports she has already set aside space at the school to store the donations.
Accepted Through Dec. 21
Donations will be accepted through Dec. 21 (2025; Monday). “They absolutely don’t have to be new,” Nowack adds, “just in good condition that can help the students’ work look its best.” Mounting materials are needed too, and include items such as mat boards, foamcore, glass, and braided hanging wire.”
The exhibit’s exact March date and details remain a work in progress. Anno Artem and the school’s busy teachers have yet to finalize particulars of the show, but all agree gathering those frames will be a helpful start.
For more information, contact Nowack or Kangas at the gallery by calling 267-834-5337, or send an e-mail to info@annoartem.com.
Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash+, used under license
Our entertainment reporting covers the arts and culture, shows, exhibits, performances, festivals, and history-related activities within, or that affect residents of, Montgomery, Berks, and Chester PA counties. Find more entertainment articles here. Also, see and join the Pottstown Arts and Cultural Alliance group on Facebook.
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