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n 1920, a red brick building was built at 800 Broad Street. It’s first purpose: a Ford dealership.

From the 1930s to the 1950s, it housed a purveyor of farm implements. More recently it’s been a marine consignment store, a garage space, and a sign shop.

Today the building at 800 Broad Street has a new purpose. The stark shell of the 1920s industrial brick building is now the home of Broad Strokes Art Gallery.

Inside Broad Strokes Art Gallery.

Ellen and Jim Cornette bought the property in 2023 but had been eyeing it for a while. The Cornettes, originally from Hampstead, NC, were frequent visitors to Oriental long before buying a home here; their daughter went to Camp Don Lee, and Jim’s work in the seafood business brought him this way.

Jim and Ellen Cornette inside 800 Broad Street.

“We saw it (800 Broad St.) come on the market right before COVID and thought it would be cool to have that building.” The Steamer building down the road had just been torn down. The Cornettes didn’t want a similar fate for the old Ford building. They made an offer. It was accepted.

“It needed happiness,” Jim said. “Ellen and I find things that need happiness, and we put happiness back into them.”

“We find things that have the potential to be bulldozed and taken out of their natural habitat…like when we see something that might be bulldozed and a modern structure put on top of it in a historic town. Oriental is a historic town. These buildings are part of that history,” adds Ellen.

Original red brick of 800 Broad Street, in 2023.

Jim continues, “There is red brick history around here…. this building, the Steamer (torn down), the building across the street, and the old ice house. Those brick buildings are disappearing.”

Their first building rescue and restoration project was a church in Hampstead NC, built in 1903. They then bought, restored, and raised their house in Oriental, which was built in 1850.

In 2023, they Cornettes bought this property tract, including both buildings at 730 and 800 Broad Street, both built in 1920. They also own the old ice house on Midyette and Hodges Street. The couple believe an old building shouldn’t be torn down if it can be made into something useful.

Ellen Cornette walks across the empty space during renovations in 2023.

“One of the things that struck a chord with us is that we were looking at historical photos of this building, and they (the windows) were all boarded up, the doors boarded up. It has had decades of lack of use.”

Their first time viewing the inside was a shock; it was in disrepair and smelled bad, like oil and diesel. “It smelled like an auto shop,” explains Ellen. It was divided up with a lot of walls. That made sense though; it had been used by several residents as a repair / mechanic shop for some time.

The smaller brick building next door, at 730 Broad Street, was originally a grocery store called the O’Neills Store. It was built by the same builder with the same arches over the windows. Many of the arches were sealed up. “You used to access the bathrooms from the outside, but they bricked up the doors,” said Ellen.

Jim and Ellen renovated the smaller white building first to make it rentable, replacing the flooring, rewiring the electrical, and making it ADA compliant.

Current white exterior. “All of the formerly unhappy people (about the white painted bricks) are very happy now,” said Jim.

The old bricks allowed water to seep through, giving the 800 Broad Street building water infiltration issues. “Because of the age of the masonry, the only way we could preserve the outside of the bricks was to paint it. There are four coats of paint on the outside now. That created a little controversy.”

Not everyone was happy about that drastic change, including Ellen, initially. “We argued over it staying red brick,” Ellen admits. Jim eventually won her over. If they didn’t paint the outside, they “would lose the character on the inside because you would have to put some sort of structure up to make it water-tight.”

Given those choices, they opted to preserve the quality and integrity of the interior brick walls.

Preserved rusty trusses.

“So we intentionally chose not to paint the inside of the walls,” said Jim. Ellen adds, “All the different walls (and their state of paint) are different time periods when things were in here.”

This building never had heating and air conditioning, so an HVAC system was added. The ductwork across the open ceiling adds to the industrial feel.

“As we go, we find leaks, and they’ll be repaired as the building continues to age with time.” They trimmed the windows and retrimmed the doors. The original brick arches are visible over each window.

Trusses were treated with a sealant called Ospho, which binds the rust. “It saved the character of the trusses,” said Jim. “We talked about painting them red, or painting them black. But we just sealed them and they looked so good like that.”

Gallery space with varying states of paint on the walls. ‘The interior walls in their original state add to the charm,’ said Ellen Cornette.

Contemporary lighting was added.

At first, Jim and Ellen didn’t know what they would do with the space. “An event center came up. I’ve always wanted to make hard cider. It would be a great place for that, a cider and ale house. Others suggested a dinner club. So many ideas came up. Another suggestion: moving the farmers market inside for an all-season market.”

Eventually, Jim was approached by several artists from the Village Gallery on Hodges Street. It had closed at the end of 2023 due to a rent increase, and the artists were looking for a new space.

Jim Cornette shows framed receipts from the original Ford dealership to artists Paula Rozov and Natalie Morse.

Marguerite Chadwick-Juner, a long-standing fine artist and Oriental local (she creates the dragon for the annual Dragon Burn), managed the former gallery, and she took charge of the search. The old dealership was one of several properties the artists investigated.

Initially, they looked at half of the smaller building at 730 Broad Street. It was way too small. And while they loved the big warehouse space, the artists would need help with funding to lease it.

Artwork hangs on painted pallets.

That’s when they reached out to the Pamlico Arts Council (PAC), where Marguerite Chadwick-Juner is the vice-president. A new partnership was born. “We are considered a non-profit program of the Pamlico Arts Council. We sought them out, and they were really happy because they have never had a meeting place or a place to call their home,” explains working artist Paula Rozov.

“We created the space, but they really brought the heart,” said Jim. “We made it clean, but they are the ones who brought it to life.”

A narrow alley separates the two buildings. Ros Kutchins gets ready to teach a watch jewelry class in the classroom next door.

Ellen sums it up: “We created a canvas, and they did the art.”

Because the PAC is funded under the North Carolina Arts Commission, they have to give back to the community. Betty Best, accountant and grant writer for PAC, explained how the partnership works: “For every dollar given, the PAC has to match it. And they are considered a public service so they have to offer classes that accommodate everyone.”

Art classes are a big part of PAC’s program. They have also rented half of the smaller building next to the gallery, so anyone who is interested – not just gallery artists – can reach out to PAC and use the space to teach an art class.

The artists moved in July 2024. They had a few pop-ups before, including in this space. “We’ve been more successful than we had feared we might be. We’ve enjoyed a lot of support from a hundred-mile radius. We all sell to people in Morehead City, in Washington, and those people come back,” said artist Paula Rozov. Her work is also on display at Broad Strokes Gallery.

The work of artist Marguerite Chadwick-Juner.

“It was Margeruite’s brain child to put the pallets together. We’ve done it all ourselves, collected the hundreds of pallets, painted them…” said Paula. Most of the pallets were donated by Harbourside Garden Company. Everything from the old gallery was painted to match and fade into the background so it doesn’t distract from the art. “Nothing stands out,” said Paula. “You’re not looking at anything except for art.”

“We all agree that it [the space] should be open, and you should not have to be following people around,” said Paula. “People want to go into most commercial spaces and look around and be left alone. They know where you are; they can find you if they have questions.”

Working artist Paula Rozov, with new commission artist Natalie Morse. Steampunk lamp by Irene Goley.

There are two categories of artists at the gallery: working artists and consignment artists. Working Artists pay the most rent, and they have a work commitment: to stay at the desk at 1 or 2 days a month. But they pay less commission than the consignment artists. There are also different committees to allocate the work; the arranging the displays, maintaining the website, scheduling, marketing, and so forth.

The gallery lay out allows visitors to view the art in peace, without being crowded or having to follow other visitors around.

Artists interested in joining the gallery go through a jury process sand potential artists should be ready with a body of work. “You just can’t display one piece,” said Paula. “A body of work will be different depending on the art. A sculptor with large free-standing work might have 3-5 pieces. But for other artists [painters, print makers, ceramicists, etc.], it is expected that would come with 15-30 pieces.

“They need to have a body of work because this is a fine arts display gallery. You put it in here, and you’re not switching it over all the time.”

Bluebirds are well represented.

On the other hand, Paula explains, it’s important to keep the gallery dynamic. “Now, a lot of people in here have a following. We have collectors. People are collecting particular artists work and they come in looking and they want to see something new. It’s a strange balancing act.”

So this collegial group of working artists has taken it upon themselves to juggle the artwork in the gallery regularly. At the end of January, they had their first ‘juggle.’ “We juggled everybody forward, we juggled everybody across the room. Every single artist got moved. We did it all in one day.

“It was back-breaking work,” said Paula, “but it was like a new space. Everyone was happy with where they landed.”

A full gallery: at the November 2024 Grand Opening.

Working artists are responsible for keeping their work dynamic, which includes rearranging if something sells and regularly checking in on their artwork. “We come in to breathe life into their art. It isn’t hanging there to be forgotten,” said Paula.

It’s nice to have a gallery in town again because it was always on the tourism ‘circuit’, Paula explained. But it’s in a better position now because “someone doesn’t get into town without riding past you. So, yes, we were where people walked around when they got off the boats, but they didn’t buy stuff and haul them back onto their boats – other than jewelry.”

Fishing Trawlers in the harbor, by Pappy Khouri.

Broad Strokes Gallery is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, 11a-4p. Friday and Saturday, 10a – 5p.

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Story & photos by Christa Martin

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Posted Friday July 25, 2025 by Christa Martin Kreutz