Leaps and bounds – Buffalo Jump Gallery builds on ability to appeal to both artists and customers

Tess Morgan started a small framing business out of her basement 10 years ago when she found herself staying home to care for her ill baby.

Today, Morgan runs a successful Western art gallery out of a 5,600-square-foot store on Highway 93 that is steadily growing with the influx of people to the Bitterroot Valley.

By Jill FitzSimmons

http://www.mtinbusiness.com/current/bus11.html

It may be cliche to say this business owner never imagined the good fortune that would come her way. But really, she didn’t.

“I didn’t plan it this way, but this is how it worked out,” Morgan said recently from the Buffalo Jump Gallery http://www.buffalojumpgals.com/ in Stevensville.

The gallery, now in its sixth year, has been at its current home, 4039 Highway 93 S., for two years.

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Tess Morgan & Val Rayevich, Owners

4039 Hwy 93

Stevensville MT 59870

Ph: (406)777.2066

Email:

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Business partner Val Rayevich joined Morgan, who also previously owned the Glacier Gallery in Missoula, a year ago.

Together the women have worked to create a gallery that aims to provide high-quality and unique items to their customers. You won’t find the merchandise found in the Buffalo Jump Gallery anywhere else, Rayevich said.

And that’s because the women also want their gallery to be a venue for Montana artists looking to showcase their work. Most of the items sold in their gallery are made from local artists, many of whom live in Missoula or Ravalli counties. The gallery is not only a place to shop, but also a business that keeps artists at work, Morgan said.

So, in a way, Morgan has come full circle. This once work-at-home mother is now helping artists who work from their homes.

Many of the people who come through the Buffalo Jump Gallery’s doors are looking for that lodge look. They enjoy Western art and all that it stands for – its ruggedness, its sense of history and a beauty that’s also found in all things natural. Along with art, the gallery specializes in Western furnishings. So someone looking for that “Montana” look could pick up an elk mount and leather couch as well as some artwork for the walls or even jewelry for the misses. Many of the pieces are affordable; others, such as a bronze art piece, can cost up to $10,000.

“You can’t help but walk in there and find something you want,” said Joan Prather, program director of the Stevensville Main Street Association.

When Morgan started the business on her own in 1990, she was 23 and fresh out of college with a degree in health and human performance from the University of Montana. Living in Missoula at the time, she didn’t get the chance to use that degree, as her family needed her at home. When the framing business outgrew her home, she opened up the Glacier Gallery in Missoula.

But Morgan, now the mother of three children, later moved to Stevensville with her family. She was looking for the atmosphere of a smaller community. She opened the Buffalo Jump Gallery in an 800-square-foot building just down the road from her current location. Steady growth lead to a new building and a new business partner. Morgan ran the business herself until Rayevich, who lives in Missoula, joined her.

Morgan credits her own growth to the population growth in the Bitterroot Valley. One of the fastest-growing counties in the state, Ravalli County has seen a surge of out-of-state people buying second homes in Montana or moving to the area upon retirement. These people want to decorate their homes with Western art and furnishings, Morgan said. Her gallery gives this influx of people what they are looking for, she said. As a result, she said, she has a great customer base that keeps coming back.

Also reaping the rewards of the gallery’s success are the many local artists who are featured in the gallery. Among the artists are Tim Joyner of Hamilton, Mark Gibson of Missoula, Jane Hoefler of Victor, Phoebe Harper of Victor and Steve Wilson of Corvallis. Both the women’s husbands, Lon Morgan and Rich Rayevich, also make furniture that’s sold in the gallery.

With her framing skills, Morgan herself is an artist, Rayevich said. Her business partner can take an ordinary print and turn it into a work of art, Rayevich said. People come from all around to have Morgan frame their artwork, she added.

Both Morgan and Rayevich take pride in the fact that theirs is a women-owned business. Women are often more sensitive and in tune to their customers, Morgan said.

The biggest thing Morgan has learned over the years is to keep the gallery’s focus on what it does best and don’t stray from that. Though she has diversified several times in the last six years, including adding the Western furnishings, she is mindful not to branch out so much that she loses her focus, she said.

Rayevich, who handles much of the marketing for the gallery, sees much potential in the gallery’s future. There are plans to expand the gallery’s Internet site, and the gallery is just starting a new program called Fresh Art. The program will provide, for a fee, art to decorate offices and businesses. The art then will be changed every six months.

As Montana moves away from traditional jobs, Morgan sees tourism growing and possibly keeping the state alive. More businesses like Buffalo Jump will be opening in the state, she said.

As for the Buffalo Jump Gallery itself, it’s had a positive impact on tourism in Stevensville as well as the artists who live in the area, Prather said. The gallery draws people from throughout western Montana, and then many of those people head into Stevensville to shop, she said. A tour of the gallery reminds people what this area has to offer, she said.

“It’s a great (chance) just to see how much talent we have in the valley – it’s incredible,” Prather said.

Copyright 2004
Missoulian.com