Artful Dealers
For these two women, art is their passion and their business, too
Inside East Sacramento November 2002
By Marybeth Bizjak

Art dealer Beth Jones has a theory about collecting art that you could call "the expensive shoe theory."

"When I started in the gallery business," says Jones, "I had friends who would pay $100 for a pair of shoes, then say they couldn't afford to buy art." If they spent that money on a painting or photograph instead of shoes, she explains, they'd have something of lasting value. "I'd rather pay that money every month to a gallery than give it to Macy's," she says, laughing.

Jones, along with her business partner Lynda Jolley, recently opened the JayJay art gallery on Elvas Avenue. There, they hope to persuade at least a few Sacramentans to part with their shoe money for some art.

The modern, 1,800-square-foot space is filled with abstract works by the 17 artists they represent, including Galelyn Williams, Peter Stegall, S.R. Jones and Mark Emerson. Jones describes the paintings, sculpture and photography as "eclectic," noting "the work is not typical" of a lot of the art exhibited in Sacramento.

"Art here normally references Northern California landscapes and Bay Area figuratives," she says. "We're more interested in promoting artists who draw from the international mainstream."

Jones and Jolley became gallery owners through roundabout routes. After studying art at Sac State, Jones went to work in the Governor's Office under Jerry Brown and George Deukmejian. In 1984, she left her job to work at the Jennifer Pauls Gallery. "My first day there, I thought, 'This is what I'm supposed to do,"' she recalls.

Jolley had a similar epiphany in 1988. After studying drama at Mills College, she had opened a hair salon with a friend. They bought some art on a trip to Mexico, and Jolley was instantly hooked on the collecting experience. Next, they began selling it at the salon, and their business, Big Hair/Big Art, was a big success. "I had a voracious appetite for art," Jolley explains. "I learned by doing."

By 1999, she was looking for a new challenge when Jones, who by that time had become a corporate art consultant, asked Jolley to join her. The two women helped companies such as Sprint, HewlettPackard and Kaiser Permanente buy art, and later they opened a tiny gallery on Franklin Boulevard. Last year, Jones's husband Steven, a commercial interior designer, bought the Elvas building that for a half century had housed Ogden Engineering. He remodeled it, turning the upstairs into offices for his business and the downstairs into an airy, loftlike gallery space for Jones and Jolley.

The pair cater to people who want to buy interesting art and build their personal collections. "People think it takes a lot of money," says Jones, "but it doesn't. It takes commitment." Their pieces range in price from $200 to $8,000, and the gallery offers no interest financing.

They say even people who live in traditional East Sac houses can incorporate abstract art into their homes. One young couple they work with began collecting conservative art but have now branched out and become "more open minded," says Jolley. "People get hooked on being around original art," explains Jones, "and then they become as sick as we are."

The two have a lot in common. Both live in Tahoe Park, both collect art "voraciously," and both have pet dachshunds. Jones is the more conservative looking of the pair, with a short, elegant blond hairdo and businesslike dress. Jolley is the more flamboyant one, with tattoos, a nose piercing and a charmingly exuberant personality.

She was uncharacteristically at a loss for words, however, when famed artist Wayne Thiebaud showed up at the gallery's opening in September. " I just handed him a program and said. 'Thanks for coming,'"Jolley recalls.

JayJay is at 6520 Elvas Avenue: for information, call 453-2999 or visit jayjayart.com.