November is an unusual time to open an art gallery on Martha’s Vineyard. The summer crowds, with their disposable incomes and endless leisure time, have been replaced by the year-round residents with their bills and 40-hour work weeks. And in this economic climate, with art markets large and small starting to feel the trickle-down effect from the crisis on Wall Street, artists and dealers alike might find themselves seeking shelter from the storm with other pursuits, or even abandoning ship all together.

A deep connection with the senses is synonymous with artists, those tactile beings who crave materials in their hands. The resting of a paintbrush in the palm of a painter, the click of a shutter in the hands of a photographer, the composition of a scene, the satisfaction of capturing the perfect Vineyard light.