Samarah Fine Art reopening gallery in Whitefish

Samarah Fine Art is reopening a gallery in Whitefish.

The art gallery, which operated in a space between what is now Tupelo Grille and MacKenzie River Pizza between 2004 and 2016, is moving into a new building under construction at 16 Baker Ave., across the street from Markus Foods.

Owner Rob Stern said he bought the land he’s building on in 2016. He plans to hold the gallery’s first art exhibition in late December.

The ground floor is dedicated to gallery space, while the second floor has two 800-square-foot lofts that Stern plans to rent out to visitors for somewhere in the vicinity of $200 a night.

“That’s kind of a no-brainer,” Stern said. “The rental market around here is one of the best in the country.”

Stern said he was trying to differentiate his art gallery from others in Whitefish through his personal relationship with most of the artists he’ll showcase and an attention to customer service.

“At the end of the day, we believe that the thing that sells artwork the most, the best, the most efficiently, is a thing called propinquity,” Stern said. “That basically represents the space between the collector and the creator. We take pride in knowing our artists really, really well.”

Stern said he is looking for qualified applicants to staff his art gallery, including a manager to run the sales floor and frame shop and some other floor employees.

“Buying art should be fun, it should be low pressure, it should be educational, enjoyable, it should be all those things,” Stern said. “The sale doesn’t end until six months down the road when you make sure they are really happy with what is hanging on their wall.”

Stern said he owned 90 percent of the building and another working partner who will be in charge of managing the nightly rentals owns the other 10 percent.

“It was a great move, it fits like a glove,” Stern said.

Reporter Peregrine Frissell can be reached at (406) 758-4438 or pfrissell@dailyinterlake.com.