By Mary Ellen Graybill

Talk Therapist and Art Gallery Creator Chris Davis, has created Fourth Fridays in Columbia, an organization for Columbia artists and galleries.

It might take more than free coffee at the building called “The Hub” located at 401 Locust Street, Columbia to bring people together on Fourth Friday celebrations and subsequently to attract more patrons for the arts to this town and other river towns of Marietta, “up the hill,” and Wrightsville. “across the river.” But, with the expertise and imagination of talented Chris Davis, a lifelong Lancaster Countian, it just takes time. She’s not talking about the Watch and Clock Museum and tourist attraction only, but a vision for the arts that she has been creating for visitors on the Fourth Friday tours around Columbia.

Chris had the Modest Gallery for almost three years and before that she worked in banking. Now she hopes to spur Columbia and nearby river towns to unite and create an attractive arts community that will bring business of all kinds to the towns, especially Columbia.

“When we started, it was Modest Gallery, Garth Gallery and a small coffee shop where we had art. … And fortunately when we started, some of the shops, antique places in town, the pubs and eateries – they decided to join in – they thought it was a good idea … that kind of gave us more to build on … so that people of all interests (got on the band wagon!),” she said during a recent “Fourth Friday” event. 

Ideas may be “brewing” literally at the new headquarters for the arts in Columbia. Since the once-popular Daily Grind has closed and people in town are concerned about where they can get their coffee, Chris has decided to serve coffee, allowed by borough laws as long as she doesn’t charge!

“I can’t help the morning people,” she laughs. “I can’t help them with their morning coffee.”

But she can serve coffee, even many varieties of hot teas that people might bring to share at a “pot luck” coffee time during center hours.

Chris feels that it is important that Fourth Fridays in Columbia was begun by a gallery person, or an artist to keep its artistic focus. So, she’s stepping up to the plate, (pun intended) and even serving refreshments on each Fourth Friday at “The Hub” where artists recently connected include: Dale Weibley, Diana Thomas, Marilyn Hobday, Mickey Beck, Sophie Black, and Tom Hermansader. 

These artists already create and sell a high quality of art in the town of Columbia, Pa, located 100 miles west of Philadelphia, and 10 miles west of another art “town”, Lancaster City.  

Chris started by getting to know the different artists in town and the different galleries that were around town: Jonal Gallery,  Marilyn Hobday, which is Hobday Artworks, and the Garth Gallery on 2nd Street, Columbia.

The Fourth Fridays Website was started by Chris Davis, and the first Fourth Friday happened in October 2009, she says. Ads were taken out in the Lancaster newspapers and notice given to Lancaster galleries to let everyone know that Columbia, Pa had an artistic side as well as historic.

“I want to change things for this town!”

“I always had a camera. I did photography. Still do.” says Chris Davis, whose husband had a computer business where Modest Gallery was once located. 

 “Husband is working for Google now … he’s a Google guy … he does freelance for Google … but he still does the web site design. He enjoys doing small web sites.”

Creative by Nature

Chris’s background prepared her from her college days to be activist for the arts and for people in Columbia, Pa or anywhere.  She graduated from Hempfield High School, but then got a degree in Communications from York College, close to home. That’s where she got really involved in the arts, through her extracurricular activities.

“I was in charge of the poetry section of the school newspaper; I was music director for the radio station, and theatre!”

Chris Davis really got involved!

Putting Columbia, Pennsylvania on the map

“Ever since I came to Columbia, to be a business person,” says Chris Davis, “when I told people I was working in Columbia, people think I am talking about Colombia, South America! The amount of people I run into that just have NO concept of, not just Columbia and the river towns,  but the arts in Columbia (Pennsylvania, USA!) You start talking about Columbia, and they give you this blank stare and say ‘What are you doing? Are you leaving the country?’ ”

Two New Galleries Soon To Be Announced

“I’m impressed to how far we’ve come in a short period. We now have five galleries (participating in Fourth Fridays) with two more coming this summer, (to be disclosed later!)”

“For the arts, we take advantage of as much free advertising as we can … but the most valuable tool we have is just word of mouth. Someone comes, they check it out; they  tell the next person … and that has been wonderful. We have people who come in and say, ‘My friend went last month – where do we go?’ ”

“I think all it takes is time, and the awareness … (to attract the patrons), but I think we will see more galleries, more business for this town.”

“This is maybe just the Renaissance right now.”

What’s planned

July and August, this year, coinciding with Fourth Friday, Columbia will have Art in the Park … one Friday in each month.

Wrightsville has two galleries and Marietta has the Marietta Art House …and Chris Davis would like to get them all together on a river towns tour – maybe a tour bus. (Or horse and buggy ride) 

“I want to see things continue to grow for Columbia, but I would like to see it grow exponentially with all of the town people having something to offer…” says Chris Davis.

Seminary practice and counseling

Not only does Chris work as an inspiration to artists and gallery owners, she plans a career in the counseling field.

“I do talk therapy … I have seven people I work with right now … Fig Tree Therapy. And I work with people who do not have insurance, so cannot afford (therapy.) Not only do I talk with them, but I have all of the resources where they can get help, where they can get medications (and) things like that… I also do public speaking on the same topics … Bipolar, depression, loss and grief … which they all kind of go together …”

Perhaps it’s the river town’s people, or the haunting sound of the trains through Columbia nightly, but there’s a feeling or spirituality and healing in the town. It’s a special place where the early settlers found inspiration. After all, Columbia was once considered a candidate to be the Capital of the United States (1790).

“I feel very fortunate. I get to kind of combine two forms of therapy – talking with people, talking about therapy and then I see art as a definite therapy.” she says.

Motivated from within, Chris sees the town of Columbia as a source of inspiration for artists and a Renaissance in business. Perhaps, it’s the history of the buildings that captures the visitor’s eye, and the feeling of history unchanged in the streets downtown.

“I participated in the haunted lantern tour last year, and got to wear the corset and the garb (of the 1800’s) and just walk down the street. It was wonderful!”

Time will tell what the future brings for Chris Davis and Columbia, Pennsylvania!