Longford gallery and Café owner loves variety of creating and displaying art and tutoring

Talented artist Anna Peters has found the perfect balance of creating, tutoring and showcasing wonderful arts and crafts and she has also created a unique and successful business at the heart of the Longford community.

The owner of the vibrant Athena Art Gallery and Café in the county town, is an incredibly driven young woman who has carved out a fulfilling career and she is relishing the growth of her multifaceted enterprise.

Anna studied at the National College of Art and Design, where she graduated with a Bachelor in Ceramics and Glass and a Masters in Sculpture and Expanded Practice in 2023.

The Lanesboro native, who is the daughter of Steve and Marie Peters, developed her passion for art while attending both Fermoyle national school and Ballymahon Convent of Mercy Secondary School.

Such was Anna's determination and commitment to her love and passion of art, it was the only choice she entered on her CAO application and thankfully she was duly accepted by NCAD in March 2017.

The 27 year-old, who spent several years working in art galleries in Dublin, said following her masters she was unsure whether she wanted to work in a gallery, create art or teach.

She received fantastic support from her family who run a successful family business, and her dad entrepreneur Steve sowed the seed for the idea for Athena in early 2023.

"My dad turned around to me and he said, 'Why don't you open something yourself where you could do all of it?'," she added.

Steve, who had some retail spaces, suggested opening a gallery, making her own work and doing art classes and he subsequently offered his daughter a unit.

Anna, who describes that period as a 'whirlwind', spent the year making up a business plan and under the guidance of the Local Enterprise Board Longford and a lot of hard work Athena Fine Art Gallery and Café became a reality in December 2023.

She said her mum Marie has provided huge support in the daily running of Athena during the past two years.

"I got loads of advice from different people I knew who were in the coffee industry and I learned so much.

"We got really good coffee in and the company that we use is Coffee Perfection and they come and they train you and all your staff."

Anna has always and still loves making art concentrates on that one to two days per week.

"I am doing more commissioned pieces and more of the stuff that people want like chess boards, coasters, different things like that.

"But my passion has definitely changed. I always saw myself as an artist and I was always in that limbo of what do I want to do with art?

"And I find now I'm actually enjoying the business element as much as I'm enjoying the art element. It's really funny because I never thought I would be like that."

TALENTED: Anna said the piece of art she is most proud of is her beautiful hand painted, wooden clock

Anna, who has seven employees working alongside her and her mum, said every three months she attends an RDS showcase for artists and they try to support local Irish arts and craft such as stained glass professional Mia Gray, from Aughnacliffe.

"Her stuff is absolutely stunning and all these kind of things, as local as possible."

Anna said they usually have a minimum of five local artists on display in Athena but that can often run into double figures.

"There's loads of artists and craftspeople around and once you find one you really like and the line does well, I'm so happy."

Anna has started a wine and pizza evening, with extended hours on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays in recent months with a new wine list, cocktail options, a pizza menu and live music on Thursdays.

She runs three adult art classes weekly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and on a Saturday morning and she runs 'Paint and Sip' classes several evenings, with the most recent on December 19 and 20 last, where participants can enjoy a glass of wine.

Anna runs two children's classes a week on Wednesday and Friday afternoons and last summer she hosted a summer camp five days per week.

"It's funny because I didn't think I'd enjoy the kids' classes as much as I have but you can see them develop in front of you when they're making things," she said.

"An adult is either going to understand you and do it or not understand you and not do it, whereas with a child they will just keep trying if they want to do it."

Anna, who was diagnosed with dyslexia aged just six, said the piece of art she is most proud of is her hand painted, wooden clock at the back of the gallery.

"It's all based around dyslexia and I have dyslexia myself, I did my thesis on dyslexia and the development of kids so it's very close to my heart.

"Basically the idea of it is in each section of time so like 12 to 1 and 1 to 2 it actually has handwritten the time but because it's going from the centre to the outskirts you can't make out what it says unless you look at the diagrams.

"So the idea behind it is that someone without dyslexia can't read the writing and they feel frustrated like somebody with dyslexia might feel every day."

Find all glass work from images to purchase at athenagallery.ie

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