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Focus on: Sarah Beckett, MCPF
April 14, 2014 By Jennifer Kruger
Sarah Beckett
Custom picture framer Sarah Beckett, MCPF, describes her taste as “pretty neutral,” favoring grays, blacks, whites, and taupes. “I like to take a more minimalist approach, that my customers like,” she explains. “I call it a transitional approach.”
But there’s nothing minimalist about Beckett’s passion for framing, sparked when she was hired by a frame shop in 1995.
It’s been an upward trajectory ever since for the award-winning owner of SB Framing Gallery in Milwaukee, Wis. A long-time member of the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA), she is a PPFA Chapter President PPFA competition winner, PPFA Master Certified Picture Framer (MCPF), and Chair of the PPFA Chapter Relations Committee.
Sarah started her undergrad degree at UW Stevens Point, majoring in Public History with a minor in archaeology, before transferring to Carroll College (now University), graduating in 1995 with degrees in Fine Art and American History.
For the winter of 1994 she interned in the Archives department of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, updating the artwork database – and where she was “wowed” at seeing a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit being put up.
She also worked part-time at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, helping set up the library in the archives department and working in the museum’s gift shop. “I loved American Civil War history,” she says. “The hand-painted murals in the museum were amazing to watch, and I got to go with a flag conservator into the flag vault and see all the history there.”
After graduating, and unsure of her career goals, she got into framing – hired by U Frame It in Madison, Wis., and taught how to frame, she worked her way to assistant manager before hitting a career ceiling. She then applied at Eye Level Framing that had recently opened in Madison, working there for six months before becoming co-owner from 2001 to 2007. In 2007, she decided to branch out on her own, and opened SB Framing Gallery in the arts district of downtown Milwaukee, and started turning a profit within six months.
SB Framing Gallery is slowly diversifying in gifts, including unique photo frames from La Ville, Diane Markin, Bella, Guerrini, American Choice, and David Howell, and photo frames Sarah makes from scrap. Quick impulse buys are framed postcards of Milwaukee; as well as kugels (glass ornaments) from Iron Art Glass, tiles from Motawi Tiles, and Arts and Crafts prints from Yoshiko Yamamoto and Laura Wilder.
The frame shop is located in the Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee, where Sarah usually participates in one of the quarterly Gallery Nights held each year. She belongs to the Merchants Association that meets bi-monthly and tries to keep up the Third Ward businesses and interest in the area.
Sarah first joined PPFA when she worked in Madison, in the early 2000s; and earned her Certified Picture Framer (CPF) designation but let it lapse. “When I started my own business in 2007 I decided it was important to have the most up-to-date education in the framing field and rejoined the PPFA and took the CPF exam again,” she says. “I started going to Chapter events, and I enjoyed meeting other framers and talking shop as well as making friends.” She is also a regular participant on the PPFA Framers Corner online forum.
Sarah joined the PPFA Wisconsin Chapter board in 2008, serving as President in 2012, and again this year. She has enjoyed the annual PPFA Conventions in Las Vegas, concurrent with the West Coast Art & Frame Expo. “Oh, my goodness, it’s a whirlwind – non-stop classes, PPFA Chapter Leaders Conference, judging for PRINT Competition, trade show, and dinners with friends. But now I have the fever and can’t miss one.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PRESS RELEASE...
April 14, 2014 By Jennifer Kruger
Sarah Beckett
Custom picture framer Sarah Beckett, MCPF, describes her taste as “pretty neutral,” favoring grays, blacks, whites, and taupes. “I like to take a more minimalist approach, that my customers like,” she explains. “I call it a transitional approach.”
But there’s nothing minimalist about Beckett’s passion for framing, sparked when she was hired by a frame shop in 1995.
It’s been an upward trajectory ever since for the award-winning owner of SB Framing Gallery in Milwaukee, Wis. A long-time member of the Professional Picture Framers Association (PPFA), she is a PPFA Chapter President PPFA competition winner, PPFA Master Certified Picture Framer (MCPF), and Chair of the PPFA Chapter Relations Committee.
Sarah started her undergrad degree at UW Stevens Point, majoring in Public History with a minor in archaeology, before transferring to Carroll College (now University), graduating in 1995 with degrees in Fine Art and American History.
For the winter of 1994 she interned in the Archives department of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, updating the artwork database – and where she was “wowed” at seeing a Georgia O’Keefe exhibit being put up.
She also worked part-time at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum, helping set up the library in the archives department and working in the museum’s gift shop. “I loved American Civil War history,” she says. “The hand-painted murals in the museum were amazing to watch, and I got to go with a flag conservator into the flag vault and see all the history there.”
After graduating, and unsure of her career goals, she got into framing – hired by U Frame It in Madison, Wis., and taught how to frame, she worked her way to assistant manager before hitting a career ceiling. She then applied at Eye Level Framing that had recently opened in Madison, working there for six months before becoming co-owner from 2001 to 2007. In 2007, she decided to branch out on her own, and opened SB Framing Gallery in the arts district of downtown Milwaukee, and started turning a profit within six months.
SB Framing Gallery is slowly diversifying in gifts, including unique photo frames from La Ville, Diane Markin, Bella, Guerrini, American Choice, and David Howell, and photo frames Sarah makes from scrap. Quick impulse buys are framed postcards of Milwaukee; as well as kugels (glass ornaments) from Iron Art Glass, tiles from Motawi Tiles, and Arts and Crafts prints from Yoshiko Yamamoto and Laura Wilder.
The frame shop is located in the Historic Third Ward of Milwaukee, where Sarah usually participates in one of the quarterly Gallery Nights held each year. She belongs to the Merchants Association that meets bi-monthly and tries to keep up the Third Ward businesses and interest in the area.
Sarah first joined PPFA when she worked in Madison, in the early 2000s; and earned her Certified Picture Framer (CPF) designation but let it lapse. “When I started my own business in 2007 I decided it was important to have the most up-to-date education in the framing field and rejoined the PPFA and took the CPF exam again,” she says. “I started going to Chapter events, and I enjoyed meeting other framers and talking shop as well as making friends.” She is also a regular participant on the PPFA Framers Corner online forum.
Sarah joined the PPFA Wisconsin Chapter board in 2008, serving as President in 2012, and again this year. She has enjoyed the annual PPFA Conventions in Las Vegas, concurrent with the West Coast Art & Frame Expo. “Oh, my goodness, it’s a whirlwind – non-stop classes, PPFA Chapter Leaders Conference, judging for PRINT Competition, trade show, and dinners with friends. But now I have the fever and can’t miss one.”
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL PRESS RELEASE...
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