When walking down Main Street, one can wander in and out of locally owned shops, grab a pastry or smoothie, or even a meal, and will soon be able to view and appreciate local art.

The Good Weather Gallery will hold its grand opening on Sept. 14 from 6-9 p.m. The gallery’s first show, “A Brand New Day”, will feature eight local artists who will all be at the opening to speak about their pieces. Admission is free.

According to co-owner and lead curator Brooke Peipert, she and her business partner, Amanda Thoron, decided to open the gallery “to provide artists with a space to professionally show their work and the community members feel welcome at.”

One of the featured artists will be Michael Snider, who will have two pieces on display from his Koolverse Collection. One of the pieces, called the Koolverse Kaleidoscope, is a giant functioning kaleidoscope according the Good Weather Facebook page.

Dennis Ringering is another local artist whose work will be displayed at the show. The gallery will feature three of his pieces, which were inspired by ancient art.

“I have always been interested in symbols, images and objects that man makes,” Ringering said in his artist statement. “My recent work is drawn from my research of petroglyphs and pictographs, humanities’ oldest evidence of artistic expression.”

The gallery will also feature art from Craig McCullough, Tracey Ippolito, Jake Bishop, Andrew Rola, Mark Witzling and Maren Leonard.

Peipert said that the artists were selected based on a jury process, along with a review of their resume, artist statement, and conceptualization of their work. Submitting a piece is free, and there will be an announcement made when they are calling for a show.

EHS senior and AP art student Ellie Viox said that she is excited that there will be new place displaying art in Edwardsville.

“Hopefully we will get the town more interested in art with the additional professional gallery, especially given it will be downtown,” Viox said.

Fellow senior and AP art student, Joí Johnson, agrees.

“I think it’s really great to allow more opportunities for people passionate about their art, and it’ll help with the expanding of Edwardsville,” Johnson said. “There are a lot of people who deserve more recognition for their work, and I’m sure plenty of people interested in seeing that work.”