We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Thays Franca, Teri Althouse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Thays Franca, Teri Althouse, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

In 2019 Thays França and Teri Althouse met as competitors in an art fundraising competition in Ormond Beach, Fl. The two acquaintances, having art in common were always ready for friendly banter and art talk when they ran into each other at community events. Both women had successful art businesses, Thays with a small art gallery and paint and sip business and Teri as a faux finish and mural artist who was considering retirement and transitioning from walls to canvas art work.

Just a short year later as covid was becoming the major new story, the largest co-op art gallery in Ormond moved to Daytona Beach, leaving a void in the local art scene. This void was instrumental in the two acquaintances taking a huge risk, becoming partners, and re-inventing the art gallery concept in a newly remodeled space called Art Spotlight.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Thays França Thays (Ta-eese) França knew, when she colored with her first crayons at age three, that she was destined to be an artist. Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, where she graduated from the School of Fine Arts, Thays decided to bring her colorful and vibrant style to the USA. Moving to Ormond Beach in 2015, the vivacious artist has taken the town by storm. Thays introduced the paint-and-party concept to Ormond Beach, but by 2018 she decided to transition from ‘fun art’ to fine art. The Thays Art Gallery and Studio was the result of a thoughtful and creative renovation and rebranding of her space. It was then that Thays became an integral part of the newly formed 1st Saturday Ormond Beach Art Walk.
Although Frida Kahlo is one of her role models, most of Thays’ work is inspired by her love of nature and her travels. As avid sailors, Thays and her husband, Sean, have been blessed to witness worldly beauty worthy of sharing. Thays paints commissioned work for clients as well as wall murals at many local businesses and government facilities. In fact, she painted the very first and so far, the only city-approved exterior mural behind the Ormond Garage.

Teri Althouse
Teri has been creating all her life, starting her official career in the arts as a “studio hand / assistant” for an artist in her native Minnesota. Over the years she dabbled all types of arts and crafts but in 1990 discovered Faux finishing. She quickly built a very successful decorative painting business. Over the course of 30+ years she worked with many clients designing and installing custom faux finishes, decorative painting, and murals in homes and business all over the country. With her full-time crew of talented artists and working large scale projects, Teri and crew would spend many months at a time in a single residence, bringing the clients dream home to life with color and texture.
As time, life and age caught up with her, she started to focus on smaller canvases and dreamed of retirement. Her opportunity to transition full time to canvas art came from a doggy day care. After running into the owner of one of the dogs she had randomly painted and by coincidence and having that painting in her car, the commissions started pouring in and the rest was history.

Thays & Teri at Art Spotlight
Thays and Teri met in 2019, Both women are lifelong, full-time artists and entrepreneurs with successful art businesses. The track of their lives seemed to be happening as planned but as life and chance would have it, an opportunity fell before them. With news spreading of the artistic void being left behind as a large art co-op was leaving town and the commercial space hosting it became available, both women thought the other would be perfect to take over. They both knew that keeping a healthy art scene alive was important for the community.
As mere acquaintances, the prospect of suddenly forming a partnership and opening an art gallery together was the last thing on their minds. It soon became obvious that the strengths and attributes each had to offer were far more powerful when combined. It took several months of tough honest talks and hard work to hammer out the details of a partnership and make changes to the lives they had previously planned on living. They then moved on to designing an art gallery with a complete remodel of the space and the concept. The process took almost a year to complete and in July of 2022 Art Spotlight opened its doors for business.
With a mission to “create, collaborate and elevate” the arts and artists in the area, local artists were invited to become a part of the gallery. Art Spotlight is a unique, artist-initiative fine art gallery. The gallery currently hosts 26 “member artists” with room to grow. Art Spotlight promotes a new front gallery show each month for the 1st Saturday Art Walk. Thays and Teri can easily claim the Art Spotlight is not an average art gallery. The gallery changes shape each month with all its interior walls on wheels. The beautifully designed gallery is warm and welcoming to visitors, Even the smell of the gallery is unique with its own signature scent candles. All their events are designed to promote community and creativity. Wine tastings, meeting space, private events, art classes and even small weddings happen at Art Spotlight.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Starting a business partnership and opening an art gallery is a large task even for the best of friends. Considering the extra work involved for two independent business owners who have just recently met, both with different goals and ideas, life paths and even a 23-year age gap can present much to work out. Also, consider that time is of the essence as the space available is in a prime, sought after location. Decisions must be made, some of them quickly. In a very short period, learning to communicate differences of ideas and opinions must be sorted out. And finally sudden life changes involve not only the two new partners but their spouses and family as well. Resilience and communication along with leaving ego’s at the door has lead the partners into their third year now. A deep friendship has developed and the Art spotlight is thriving and growing because of it.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Thays and Teri share the gallery goals of creating, collaborating, and elevating the arts and artists in Ormond Beach. They strive to make Art Spotlight a community center and of course the coolest art gallery in town! They believe that all artist, whether seasoned professionals or emerging beginners have so much to offer and that as a community everyone can be a part of a larger movement to spread the love and unity and beauty the word need more of right now.

Contact Info:

• Website: art-spotlight.com
• Instagram: art_spotlight_ormond
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/artspotlightormond

Image Credits
The first image I entered is credit to “Oh So Sweet Studios”