By Cathy Miller

Eric Helmstetter lives an arts-filled life. His background is graphic design, having attended Kutztown University and studied communication design (design for advertising). He recalled, “I like three-dimensional things, so I worked at a package design firm for a number of years in Manhattan, then I bought a small business out here.”

President/senior creative director of ThinkWork Creative in Washington Township (Morris) – a pebble’s toss from Hackettstown – Helmstetter has owned the company for 32 years, starting out in a small office in Washington (Warren), moving to Main Street Hackettstown for 11 years, on to three years in Allamuchy, and finally at the current location of 47 Route 46, Suite 7. They specialize in package design and packaging mock-ups, as well as graphic design.

He is a musician/songwriter and a member of the Skylands Singer Songwriter Guild. He currently plays in Fourtold, a quartet based out of Hackettstown, performing original music since late 2019.

On top of that, Helmstetter is also the owner and curator of the new WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery at 47 Route 46, Suite 3. He opened the gallery seven months ago, in November 2021, claiming “I’m pleasantly shocked – we’ve been busy.” Lisa Gardner, the gallery’s director of operations, said, “We weren’t sure we’d fill the walls. Next thing you know, we’ve got too many things to display. As things moved out, new things moved in.”

Eric added, “I knew I could renovate the space, since we’d done that with all our prior moves. I worried that procuring artwork might be a challenge, but it wasn’t. Artists were so receptive because from their perspective where do you keep it all? I found out if you’re constantly creating, and they’re big pieces, you need a place to put them. Now I get to meet all these people I’ve never met, I learn their stories, why they paint – for all different reasons. People discuss the art in here all the time.”

A few of the local artists from Warren County currently being exhibited at WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery are Will Harmuth, Tristan LaFerrier, Scott Ward, Wendy Thomas, Kevin Pi, Johnathan Lemp, Andrea Kelly, Ed Palmer, and Elizabeth Fischer.

Thomas, a Hackettstown resident, will be featured in a one-woman show on September 9, 10, and 11, entitled “Simplicity – A Black And White Art Exhibit.”

“You’re an artist and you’re making art and you like the results. What are the chances that there’s no other human being on the planet that will like it? They just have to find it,” Helmstetter said, “Most of the artists here are really painting for themselves, creating for themselves.”

WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery prides itself on being a place that presents the work of artists who successfully explore their curiosity. Everywhere you look you’ll find really great work from jewelry to sculpture to paintings to photography, large pieces and small, very abstract to fine art.

The first art exhibit held at WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery was called “My Friends Are Artists.” Helmstetter explained, “The artists were all people I went to college with or grew up with. It worked out well. I called all my friends when I opened the gallery and everyone brought something in.” Most of the artists were local.

This all started,” Helmstetter explained, “because I make the metal sculptures you see in here,” he says with a wave of the hand. “During the pandemic we didn’t have a lot of work in the back at ThinkWork Creative. Our business works primarily with R & D departments in large companies and they cut all that out during that time. No one was coming into the office, I was in there by myself. 

“I enjoy creating sculptures, so I started making little ones during the pandemic,” he continued. “I built tree sculptures, called organic sculptures. They were taking up space. How many tree sculptures can you have in the house? I was talking to the landlord and asked what if we put an art gallery in the adjoining space where the old jewelry store was. It was a great opportunity to open a gallery and get some of the artists I know out in front of other people.”

Not only does he like to make little sculptures, but the 2,500 pound steel structure out front by the street is his creation as well. It’s actually the sign for ThinkWork Creative, with the ThinkWork logo on the side facing the road. ThinkWork is a trade-as name for a company called PHD Advertising Design, which owns both ThinkWork and WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery. To connect those two businesses to the parent company, Helmstetter decided to use the ThinkWork logo as the graphic element within the WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery logo. 

He noted, “While I solely own both the Gallery and ThinkWork (PHD Advertising Design) neither of them could function without Lisa Gardner, who has worked with me as senior project manager for 14 years at ThinkWork, and now simultaneously at WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery as director of operations.”

The goal is for WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery to become a place where people that live fairly close-by come to do something different on a monthly basis, something to look forward to. “I want every single person in town to come to our shows – maybe before or after dinner at a restaurant in town, or after a shopping spree on Saturday,” Helmstetter said. “So if you go someplace, if you have to dress up for dinner, take in an art show afterwards. What could be better than that? Plenty of free onsite parking!”

The event space is available to the public, having already been utilized for meetings, poetry readings, and receptions during special art exhibits. With a maximum occupancy of 50 at any one time, there is no charge to use the space.

“I really want to get our name out there,” Helmstetter noted. “I want people to think of us as part of the collectiveness of the community. I want WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery to be part of what people do for fun.

“The ultimate goal is to inspire people to support the arts. They come in. They leave with a good experience and, hopefully a new artwork, and they tell people about WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery.”

Upcoming Special Events at WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery:

August 11, Poetry Night, 6:30-8:30pm
Open to all ages, two featured readers followed by an open format where everyone is welcome to read a poem that they’ve written or that they truly love.

August 19-21, Reception 20th 5-9pm 
Focus – A Photography Art Exhibit

September 9-11, Reception 10th 5-9pm
Simplicity – A Black & White Art Exhibit, Featured Artist Wendy Thomas

October 7-9, Reception 8th 5-9pm
Glazed – A Ceramic Art Exhibit

November 4-6, Reception 5th 5-9pm
Growth – A Sculpture Art Exhibit

December 2-4, Reception 3rd 5-9pm
Kaleidoscope – A Colorful Holiday Art Exhibit

WHITESPACE Art & Event Gallery is open every day of the week, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Check them out on Facebook, www.facebook.com/whitespaceartevent/ and Instagram, whitespaceartevent/