Zynka Gallery marks 5 years of showcasing art in Sharpsburg

It’s a thrill for Jeff Jarzynka when the glass doors of his Sharpsburg art gallery are ajar and something inside catches the eye of a passerby.

“The doors are open wide all summer, and you’ll have kids running up the street who stop and ask, ‘Is this a museum? Can I come in?’ ” he said.

“If I can expose them to art, that’s ideal.”

The Highland Park resident opened his Zynka Gallery five years ago at 904 Main St. and has since hosted 39 exhibitions of local and national artists.

“It feels like things are clicking now,” Jarzynka said. “When you hit five years, it’s a real accomplishment.”

Councilman Corey Ochai said Jarzynka is the type of person who not only takes the time to show up-and-coming artists, but educates the public about what the work represents.

“He has a way of communicating it to all levels,” Ochai said.

He credited Jarzynka with spurring his decision to become a full-time artist.

“During the pandemic, I would wander around town,” Ochai said. “The gallery was a place that you could still go into, and we’d sit and talk about art.

“For kids growing up in the neighborhood, they get a chance to open their minds and exercise their imaginations.”

The gallery recently completed a seven-week exhibit of Cory Bonnet, a Pittsburgh oil painter and preservationist who creates contemporary nostalgic scenes using salvaged and reclaimed industrial materials from steel mills and other local mainstays.

Next up is a show by Karl Mullen, born in Ireland and now living in the Berkshire mountains. Mullen uses walnut oil, raw powder pigment and a wax medium to create distinctive, color-saturated images.

The exhibit opens Jan. 11.

Jarzynka, a Shaler native, studied art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He majored in graphic design, but his true love was painting.

“I figured design was a more direct path to a steady paycheck,” he said. “I spent most of my career as a creative director in advertising, but I had an entrepreneurial spirit and it was always in my brain to open a gallery.”

During his corporate career, Jarzynka kept his finger on the pulse of the art world, serving on various boards such as the Brewhouse Arts Association and the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh.

He visited galleries when he traveled and honed his eye by collecting.

Then his life pivoted. His father became ill, and Jarzynka left the 9-to-5 job to tend to family matters.

The time with his ailing father prompted Jarzynka to realize how important passion is to happiness, he said.

“I was talking with an artist friend and they said, ‘Why don’t you curate an exhibition of my work?’ ” Jarzynka recalled.

“That was the first time I got to see what a career like that could be, and it was awesome.”

He kept at it, curating pop-up exhibitions around the city for about four years.

Instead of making people wonder where they might find his next show, Jarzynka decided to open a permanent space.

After months of searching to no avail, what happened next was a fluke, he said.

“I was watching the news, and there was a spot about the St. Vincent de Paul store closing on Main Street,” he said. “I called about it immediately.”

Sharpsburg had been on his radar to some degree, after Jarzynka spent childhood years visiting his grandma, who lived in the senior high-rise just a block or so from where his gallery sits. His family also attended Mass at St. Mary Church, the ornate borough landmark on Garnier Street.

Councilman Jon Jaso said having the gallery in the borough is invaluable.

“Small businesses are the cornerstone of Sharpsburg,” Jaso said. “Anytime that a small business passes yearly milestones is a big accomplishment.

“It’s exciting to see the buzz around Sharpsburg when they have a showing or social activity.”

For Jarzynka, being a part of the Sharpsburg scene is exhilarating.

“It feels good being here,” Jarzynka said. “The town is up and coming, and I want to be a part of it.”

Jarzynka said nearly 1,000 people flowed through the opening night of his first exhibition, which featured 17 artists. So many came because of Jarzynka’s reputation and established connections, but he admits, “We couldn’t be successful without the support of the community.”

“Obviously, we rely on sales to stay open,” he said. “But another goal is to expose people to the arts and be a highlight in the cultural fabric of Pittsburgh.”