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	ABOUT CHAPPELLE GALLERY Click any photo for a larger version. Adirondack chairs on a picturesque wooden front porch greet me from either side of the majestic door that leads into one of the most fascinating historical properties in Watkinsville, Georgia, a mere fifteen-minute drive south from the harried, electric downtown Athens. To relax in one of these seats would provide a pastoral scene of a paved country road where a passing tractor or hay baler wouldn't be surprising to see - an unlikely place for an art gallery, one might imagine. However, for Kathy and Jerry Chappelle, artists/owners of Chappelle Gallery, there is no better location than this Oconee County showplace, known by locals as the Haygood House at 25 South Main Street. Renowned ceramic artists, Jerry and Kathy Chappelle, not only own the gallery, but are one of many residents who have also called it home. To refer to this magnificent residence as a mere house is to grossly underrate its historical significance and its presence in the community. The Haygood House, originally built circa 1827, was once the office and dwelling of a superior court judge who eventually sold it to Martha and Greene Haygood. The Haygoods raised six children in the house, one of whom, Atticus Haygood, went on to serve as the president of Emory College in Oxford, Georgia, from 1875 to 1884 and was bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Another of the Haygoods' children, Laura was a principal of an early school for girls and was one of the first female missionaries to China. The house was once known as the Haygood Antique Store and the Ashford Methodist Church parsonage and has undergone various renovations in the hands of its many owners. The Chappelles purchased the house in 1999, and Kathy labored to reconstruct it to function as a gallery and as a comfortable home with modern amenities while attempting to maintain its early 1800s character. "I think people who visit the gallery are impressed by the house just as much as they are awed by the art within it," Kathy reveals as she leads the tour from the foyer through the gallery spaces in the rooms known by their respective wall colors; from the Rose Room to the White Room, remarkable art abounds in every available space. The Chappelles live amidst impressive collections of local, national, and international artists whose talents cover every medium imaginable - from pottery, glass, and wood to jewelry, soft sculpture, and pen-and-ink. Kathy is proud of the collection she has amassed and has housed in the Chappelle Gallery. "To represent the wide range of the sixty-five artists in our gallery, well, that's pretty impressive." This array of talent is obvious and is what makes the Chappelle Gallery a unique specialty shop, creating an atmosphere that's not replicated in the galleries of neighboring Athens. It's all about the art, the medium, the quality, and the locale. "We offer an atmosphere and a variety of art that is otherwise unavailable in this area. There's glass from J. P. Canlis, who was Dale Chihuly's chief glass blower for many years, and work from renowned Hans Godo Fräbel, who has done pieces for the Pope and The Royal Family. I am honored to exhibit these right alongside the work of some very talented local artists. We also have crystal-glazed Follette pottery that is simply not found anywhere around this part of the country. We have extraordinary wood work from a Californian artist; artists' work from Oregon to Texas and North Carolina to Massachusetts are featured in our gallery." The Chappelles revel in knowing that their gallery appeals to the aesthetic tastes of seasoned art aficionados as well as those looking for one-of-a-kind art that cannot be found just anywhere. Kathy explains that with pieces ranging from four dollars to three thousand dollars, anyone can find art to assume a "present of presence," for it becomes its own entity when it leaves their gallery and exists as a part of another's home. And, of course, the pottery for which the Chappelles themselves are known commands the attention of gallery visitors. In their mutual artistic creations, Kathy and Jerry divide and assume responsibilities for what has become a streamlined pottery process - a method of hydraulic pressing and slip casting using their original forms. Kathy has taken on the responsibilities of the gallery this year while Jerry, from his studio space on their farm, has undertaken most of the pottery production. Known as Happy Valley Pottery, the Chappelles' farm is located about eight miles from the gallery and houses studio space for several artists in what is known as the "chicken coop." Artists rent the space from the Chappelles, and Jerry, too, utilizes the ample room to make art. This process has evolved from an intriguing history of both artists' early love of ceramics. According to friend and fellow potter, Kent Follette of Follette Pottery based in Dubach, Louisiana, Jerry was at the heart of a national crafts revolution in the 1960s and was pivotal in inspiring young artists. "There aren't two better people than Jerry and Kathy Chappelle; they have touched so many lives through their support of artists and through their own ceramic art. There's an instant personal connection you make with pottery; it is art, but it's also ceremonial - it's that ritual of coffee in your favorite mug that may happen to be a Chappelle piece, knowing that Jerry and Kathy touched that mug that you touch every day." The Chappelles moved to the area from Minnesota in 1970 when Jerry accepted a position teaching art at the University of Georgia. Little did they know, when they found an out-of-the-way farm in Watkinsville, it would grow into an artist community that would foster creative talents of hundreds of artists over its span of thirty-five years. After raising a family, opening a number of other galleries, and cultivating an appreciation for the artists whom the Chappelles have befriended over the years, Jerry and Kathy find themselves undertaking a new phase of their lives to focus on the gallery business and other endeavors they want to pursue. "We want to take the time now to relax a bit more, have some fun, and enjoy our family. For years we've worked so hard to keep up with our other galleries and Happy Valley that we haven't been able to step back and experiment with our own art. This is the time period now where we can do that," Kathy confesses with a contented smile. "We're leaving the hectic pace we have lived for so long behind us, and it's been our plan all along to eventually call the gallery home, enjoy our retirement and our future." As I made my way back to the front porch that seemed to elicit immediate relaxation, I knew this gallery itself was my own present of presence, and it's one of many that Kathy and Jerry will continue to share with those who find themselves intrigued by what exists just off the main road. Experience the artistic gamut that is the Chappelle Gallery at 25 South Main Street in Watkinsville, Monday through Saturday from 10 A.M. until 5:30 P.M., or Sunday by appointment only. You may reach the gallery by phone at 706.310.0985. Story by Katie Hooper from the February 2005 issue of Southern Distinction magazine. The Ghosts and Spirits of Watkinsville A little further down Main Street and also within a block of the historic Ashford Manor and Eagle Tavern, lies the Chapelle Gallery, an American crafts gallery, currently owned by Jerry and Kathy Chapelle. Previously known as the Haygood House and built in the 1820s, this home was the birthplace of six children, two of whom are Atticus Haygood, who was president of Emory College from 1876 to 1882 and Bishop from 1890 until his death in 1899, and his sister, Miss Laura Haygood, who was the principal of a girls' school in Atlanta and one of the first missionaries to China. Atticus and Laura had four other siblings, including Amelia and Pitt Haygood, who both died within one year of each other at exactly one year old in the 1840s. The two infants are buried in the back yard, despite the fact that their headstones have been moved to the front yard. Even their burial site remains a mystery (although Kathy Chapelle has an idea of where they might be - towards the middle of the yard near a tree). Chapelle also has a few ideas about all of the children's remaining spirits. Often, she hears the sounds of children in the house. Never are they malicious sounds; rather, she describes them as laughing and playing. She says she has also heard the sound of someone playing with the ornaments near the Christmas tree during the holiday season. And once, she recalls, she was on her way to the kitchen and saw what appeared to be a ghostly figure casually rounding the corner to another room of the house. If that story isn't intriguing enough, when I asked her if anyone else had ever reported seeing or hearing anything strange, she replied, "Not until just last week, when a woman who was staying in the house overnight said she thought she heard a baby crying in her closet." The Chapelle Gallery, located on South Main Street, is bright and sunny with beautiful pottery and unpretentious folk art displayed throughout the house. It would seem a bit odd for old souls to remain there because it feels so freshly renovated (the restorations took two and a half years), but somehow it makes perfect sense that the Haygood children's youthful spirits might still hang around. When discussing the laughter of the spirits with Kathy Chapelle, I felt that she might even prefer to have them around, as if their spirits further enhanced the history-meets-modernity atmosphere. Never did I detect a hint of uneasiness. Excerpt from "Hauntings: The Ghosts and Spirits of Watkinsville" by Blair Koenig in the October 2004 issue of Southern Distinction magazine.