M elissa Breese has long known how to match a piece of art with a collector; she sold her first painting at age 15, working at her parents’ gallery, which they ran for 30 years. “I received quite an education from just learning about what I was always surrounded by,” she recalled, dressed every bit the New Yorker in black leggings, black boots and a grey sweater.

Her demeanor — witty, knowledgeable and quick — even feels a bit city girl. But after 17 years on the Vineyard arts scene, Ms. Breese now is standing in front of the gallery that in just a week she will open as her own, with her twin sister, Melanie Kotalac, right here in Oak Bluffs.

“I love it,” she said at 8 Uncas avenue. The look on her face told a story of contentment in the brisk spring New England air.

The Shephard Fine ArtSpace will open its doors next Friday, its name a nod to the gallery the Nantucket-raised twins grew up in. “Our parents ran Shephard Fine Arts for 30 years on Nantucket and in Newport. The focus of their galleries was 19th and early 20th century American and European paintings,” said Ms. Breese.

“It’s industrial,” she said of the gallery’s location, on a wide stretch of street right off of Circuit avenue at what was formerly the Nye Gallery. “It used to be a lumberyard, and then it was a power tool place, and then when Kim Nye bought it she turned it into OB Flea, which was like a flea market with a lot of different vendors. Then she turned it into the gallery space it is now,” said Ms. Breese, who now holds a long-term lease on it.

Indeed, it feels as if it could be in a far-off corner of Brooklyn. “There’s tons of parking,” she said, stretching out her arms.

“We can have live music until midnight and no one will complain.” From the sounds of it, there will be plenty of that. Ms. Breese, who had been at a Chilmark party on Friday night, loves to move and shake. “I love dancing,” she said. I’m a huge dance fan. I mean we added the word ‘Space’ to my parents’ gallery name because we want people to be able to dance there, play music. We’re even putting a baby grand in there!”

Inside the 2,600-square-foot space there is a stainless steel bar, state-of-the-art lighting, and soon, lining the richly-painted shiny black walls, there will be a hand-selected, wide-ranging collection of international, national, and Island art.

“I have an affinity for 19th century and early 20th century American and English Art,” said Ms. Breese, “and Melanie is a little edgier than I am, which brings a good balance. There will be a good mix of antique 19th, early 20th and estate collections in with modern contemporary paintings. She and I have gotten very good at making these selections look good collectively, not hodgepodge.”

“We really are of one mind a lot of time,” Ms. Breese said of working with her sister. “I mean, we’re identical twins. We finish each other sentences.”

Ms. Breese has taught art at the Edgartown and West Tisbury schools, worked as director of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association and managed art galleries, most recently Old Sculpin. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence with a bachelor’s in art history, and went on to Rhode Island School of Design where she earned her master’s in art education.

The sisters both live on an island, they share a love of surfing, and they have children who are the same age, one boy and one girl each. And soon Melanie will join her sister as a RISD graduate. “She’s currently doing postgraduate studies in graphic design there,” said Ms. Breese.

Before settling on the former Nye gallery space, Ms. Breese said she only looked at two others. “You just walk in and you know. And you don’t have to invest to make it a sophisticated space. It just is.” Months before closing the deal with Ms. Nye, Ms. Breese had had her eye on the building, which had been closed for two years. “I was like what is up with that space? So I literally knocked on Kim Nye’s door and asked if we could work something out.

“Everyone has been really cool in Oak Bluffs, very welcoming,” said Ms. Breese. “They’ve even asked us to be part of the [Dukes County avenue] Arts District,” though it is not physically in the district, “which is also very cool.”

Now that the sisters are in possession, 8 Uncas avenue is about to take on a whole new life. “If I’m not at the art event, I’m usually throwing it,” laughed Ms. Breese, who promises galas, parties and concerts all summer season. The first will be next weekend, when her artist friend Marsha Winsryg will hold the Persephone Event, a colorful carnival to benefit programs for women and girls in Zambia.

“Melissa and I were on a walk,” said Ms. Winsryg, “and she just happened to bring up the gallery space. She said, ‘If you ever want to use the space for your African nonprofit, just let me know.’ . . . It’s perfect timing because we’re out of money.”

Ms. Winsryg loosely sketched the days events: “At 3:30 p.m. we will start with a workshop for the kids to make butterfly and flower puppets,” she said. “And then at 4:30 people will gather from Post Office Square and march up Circuit avenue for the Persephone Parade. The people from Spindrift Marionettes will be operating the big puppets. It will be wonderful, you know, musicians, kids with their puppets, all a little ragtag!”

Poets including Brooks Robards, Amelia Smith and Linda Black will perform, Zambian crafts will be for sale, and there will be a charity art auction. Ms. Winsryg will also be showing her own paintings, which have recently consisted of Italian egg temperas and Vineyard pastels. “I haven’t shown in years, I’ve been so busy,” she said.

“After the parade — I’m also the director of the West Tisbury bell choir — I’m hoping the bells will play as the puppets dance, and then we’ll perform the Persephone myth puppet show, which we’ve been taking to the schools. It’s perfect, because it’s all about rebirth.”

Which is just right for opening anew the space of 8 Uncas avenue.

Starting April 1, Shephard Fine ArtSpace opens Fridays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Starting Memorial Day, hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.