Galena, Illinois 

Tiny shops selling handmade jewelry and coffee mugs dot the winding main street of a gracefully aging downtown. Children tug their parents’ hands as they stroll past the local café and coffee shop.

“You feel like you’re in a little different time, a different place,” said Scott Bishop, a resident of Chicago who visited the town for a weekend.

Known for its art and architecture, Galena, Ill., thrives on tourists who enjoy stepping back in time, watching a potter create a teapot or receiving tips on how to make beaded jewelry.

Galena residents know their town offers more than souvenir shops to visitors. It offers a chance to appreciate many kinds of art.

Building a Foundation

Almost every building along the main street of Galena features a 19th-century Italianate rooftop, flat with scalloped overhangs. Scott Wolfe, historical librarian for the Galena Public Library District and historian at the Desoto House Hotel, said Galena has such well-preserved buildings because the town did not have adequate funding to renovate in the mid-20th century. Town officials opted to keep the old buildings, which still stand today on the aged downtown streets.

“You can travel all over the Midwest, and there aren’t too many communities that have such a variety and such sheer numbers of 19th-century buildings,” Wolfe said.

He said many of the buildings attract tourists with an eye for 19th-century design.

Chicago resident Jennifer Black stayed at the Desoto House Hotel, the oldest running hotel in the Midwest. She said she appreciates how its staff tries to maintain the hotel’s 19th-century splendor with antique furniture.

“I like how they were able to preserve the historic charm and still be able to make it accessible to people of today...,” she said. “They have the original stairwell and the old fainting couches, but it’s still very accessible.”

Black also visited the Galena Historic Museum, which houses thousands of donated artifacts. Many date back to the early 1800s. She said she enjoys being surrounded by all this history.

“Galena has some history that is very unique to the area that you can’t get other places,” she said. “ … It just feels that you get a taste of the past that isn’t replicated.”

Nancy Breed, executive director of the museum, said the museum showcases only 20 percent of the whole collection at a time, and the staff rotates most of the collections twice a year to preserve the artifacts and give visitors a reason to return.

“Galena has such a wonderful, rich history, and many preservation-minded people want to make sure that story is told,” Breed said.

Molding the Past into the Present

Charles Fach, a local artist, has used his own blend of four types of clay to make coffee mugs, teapots and sculptures for his gallery for more than 40 years.

Potters in Galena used to make kitchenware from the distinctive area clay. Breed said this clay is known internationally for its reddish-orange color, which prompted the phrase “Made in Galena,” as the color is trademarked for being exclusive to Galena.

“The handmade unique items Galena has are wonderful for being just accurately detailed artifacts,” Breed said. “[People know that] anything ‘Made in Galena’ is an artistic and unique piece.”

Although potters in the area no longer use this reddish clay, they still enjoy continuing Galena’s pottery tradition.

Fach mainly creates pottery to sell in his gallery, but he said he still enjoys creating art for himself. Every Saturday and Sunday, Fach hosts a two-hour session at his workshop located near downtown Galena for those wanting to learn more about his craft.

“It’s amazing because I’ve been with this all my life, and I’m kind of calloused a little bit ... ,” he said. “I assume everybody’s seen this stuff, but there are a lot of people who come in here and haven’t seen it at all.”

Fach said potters of the 19th century used a lead glaze to give the final product a rainbow effect. He said he has worked with this lead glaze but no longer uses it because of its health risks.

Melissa Ojeda, a resident of Chicago, attended one of Fach’s workshops. She said she had taken a pottery class after college, and she still enjoys workshops because she gets to see an artist in his or her element.

“It’s the idea that you can come and watch someone put [art] together,” she said.

Fach said he enjoys exploring new options in art, including painting and sculptures.

“You kind of like to get energy from a neat idea,”

Fach said. “You’re not going to copy it, but you’ll take that energy and get to work. Everything you do is a kind of doorway – it’s a doorway that you either leave closed or open it up and go on into further exploration.”

Designing with a Modern Touch 

Jan Ketza-Harris’ store, The Bead Bar, resembles a color palette.

Bright lime green walls highlight her own abstract paintings. Another wall boasts a mural her daughter painted – a purple, blue, lime green and yellow rendition of Ketza-Harris, her co-owners and the artist herself. Ketza-Harris models her own handmade jewelry created from various colored beads while helping other women and their daughters string together vibrant yellow, green and blue beads on necklaces.

Ketza-Harris, a former clothes designer, explored the option of creating beads as an extension of her painting. When she visited Galena many years before, she didn’t know she would contribute to its artistic atmosphere.

“People come to Galena looking for something different,” she said. “You can go to the Gap anywhere. You look for that one-of-a-kind store when you come to a town like Galena, and we are definitely that.”

Millifiori, which is Italian for “1,000 flowers,” is the art of creating glasswork from various colors of glass rods. Ketza-Harris said she buys many beads from a local artist who uses this method.

She also said she and her co-owners brainstorm ideas of how to use her beads with wire, fishhooks and anything else she can attach to beads.

“We’re kind of like the creative spirit in Galena, I like to say,” she said. “We love color and creativity and thinking outside the box.”

Ketza-Harris said manufacturers and bead designers from around the world – including South America, Asia, Europe and Australia – seek her out to sell beads at her store.

Ketza-Harris and her partners, mother-daughter duo Trish and Jessica Italia, offer several workshops throughout the year so anyone from 3 to 98 years old can learn the art of jewelry making.

“Because we have beads from all over the world and a really good selection, people come in with the confidence that they can find something unusual and make something beautiful out of it,” Ketza-Harris said.

A Hybrid of Art and Architecture

Galena’s historic charm and art persuade many tourists to return year after year. Abstract painter John Badger moved to Galena in 1994 because of its artistic atmosphere and architectural history.

However, in the past few decades, Badger said fewer tourists visit just for the history, architecture or pottery. He said he would like to see tourists visit Galena for more than the restaurants.

Badger said he thinks the local artists’ work and the historical buildings provide tourists and residents with a new viewpoint of the town each day.

“Walking is the best way too see anything,” Badger said. “Anytime you walk, the city – ‘the village,’ I call it – is rich with architectural detail. And as long as I’ve been here, I still see something interesting or new every day.”

Photos by Chris Waller