Cobra Farm owners’ Gallery B studio
is their ‘gift’ to Lexington Community

By Katie Perkowski
KyForward correspondent

Located in the heart of downtown Lexington, Gallery B is a “gift” that the owners hope keeps on giving. 



The gallery, which opened in 2006 on Walton Avenue and moved to its Main Street location in 2008, was meant to be a philanthropic gift to the community, said owner Gary Biszantz. 



“In other words, the art business generally is certainly not very profitable and certainly hasn’t been very profitable in the last three or four years … like all businesses,” he said during a recent interview. “So to run a gallery and present the art, having the showing, et cetera, you have to kind of want to contribute to the community and give something back.”



Biszantz and his wife, Betty, for whom the gallery is named and who is an artist herself, are also the owners of Cobra Farm. Gary met Betty while he was co-owner of a golf manufacturing company, Cobra Golf. Now married for 29 years, the two split their time between Lexington, Indian Wells, Calif., and Vail, Colo.



Over the years, the couple has traveled throughout the country and the world and, in the process, has met several artists whose work they showcase in the gallery. The artists hail from such places as Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and countries in South America. 



Gallery B specializes in plein air and landscape paintings. Currently, paintings of Kentucky landscapes, snapshots of other countries and horses grace the walls and floors of the gallery. 



Biszantz said he and his family have a deep love of animals. Evidence of this is the horse rehabilitation farm they own in California, Tranquility Farm, where about 100 horses are rescued each year and adopted to new homes.



In a few weeks, the gallery will open the exhibit “All Creatures Large and Small” for the second year in a row, and a portion of the proceeds will go to the Lexington Humane Society. The exhibit will feature such animals as cats, dogs and cows in the form of oils, watercolor and mixed media. Last year, gallery director Analisa Wagoner said the showed raised more than $1,000 for the shelter.



“It proved to be so successful that we decided we’d do it again,” she said. 



Gary Biszantz met Wagoner at a horse sale, and he liked the way she got along with the horses, he said. When he needed someone to run the gallery, he thought of her right away. 



Wagoner herself took art history in college, and she does calligraphy and designs jewelry. Her mother is also an artist, so she knows a lot of local artists.



“I’ve kind of grown up in a very creative family,” she said, adding that her niece drew the picture for one of the recent gallery event invitations.



Since moving to 145 W. Main St., traffic into the gallery has improved, Gary Biszantz said.


“ … so our momentum has grown substantially. And the town’s really doing good now,” he said. “You know, there’s such growth in downtown Lexington, and you can see it all around that you know, we feel that the spiral is the right way. It’s on an upswing for us.”



Another gallery event planned for this year is the second “Paint-Out,” where artists pick up a canvas and supplies in the morning and spread out within eight blocks of the gallery to paint a downtown scene. Wagoner said local businesses supply lunch to the artists, and there is a map that tells people where each artist is located. 



“One of the things … there’s a whole push to the shop small, shop local, and we are a locally owned small business supporting a lot of local artists, and I certainly think that that’s one of the big draws about the gallery,” Wagoner said. “Because it does give both the folks that are in town and the folks that are coming into town an opportunity to see a lot of what’s locally going on in Lexington and Kentucky.”



During the year, the gallery has about six events where artists from out of state have showings, too, “so they get to see a lot of different art from a lot of different places,” Biszantz said.

“It’s kind of like culture in a community… Communities need art, museums, philharmonic, opera, you know all of that culture is beautiful to add to a community if you can provide it. So, you know, we feel in our own way, we’re doing a little bit.” 



For more information about Gallery B, visit www.galleryblexington.com. 

The opening reception for “All Creatures Large and Small” will be Thursday, Feb. 2, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., and the exhibit will last until March 3. The first gallery hop of the season will be Friday, Feb. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m., and the “Paint-Out” is planned for July.