STORY BY HENRY BURY THE INTELLIGENCER and it lias always been defined as a multi-use room by the library board. "That means the large upstairs gallery also holds other functions such as Brown Bag,him lies, children's activities and meetings," Holland noted. Holland is not an artist but she's had a love affair with the arts since a young age. Born in Detroit, she was an infant when the family moved to Niagara Falls. "There wasn't i\ whole lot of art and cul ture in the huidy < gurdy atmosphere of Niagara Falls," she quipped. But she credits her high school art teacher for opening up the w?orld of art to her. "So even though 1 flunked art in Grade 10,1 still craved it and wanted to know more about it, and be around it. After all, you don't have to be an artist to appreciate it," she said. After graduating from high school, she accepted a front desk clerk's job at a hotel at Niagara-on-the-Lake and remained there six years. Because the Shaw Festival was held there every summer summer, Holland said she was surrounded by creative and interesting people "and that was very stimulating for me." Holland decided to return to school and enrolled in the Germanic and Slavic studies course at Brock University in St. Catharines because it offered an exchange year in Germany. "I spent a year in Europe, travelling and studying and being exposed to the art and culture of Europe. It was an unbelievable year." Holland returned to Brock and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988. She held a series of jobs over the years until settling in Bloomfield with her husband in 1995. A year later, the couple opened their business, Framed and Hung, in downtown Bloomfield. They started off with custom framing and giving local artists another venue to showcase their work. "My husband eventually had enough work to fill the gallery with his landscapes and portraits so that for the last three years, we've showed his work exclusively year- round. But every November, we hold interpretations on a theme show where approximately 2 5 artists from the county display one piece each based on a common theme," she said.Holland is also vice-chairman and longtime member of the Prince Edward County Arts Council. She also belongs to the Quinte Arts Council "Tin not an artist but 1 can't imagine a world without art, she said. -/e /// H '