City Lights Arts Gallery, located on Army Street a few steps from Water Street is a place of convening, arts education, and a showcase for local art of all kinds. This charming and intimate nonprofit gallery is operated by a volunteer co-op of more than 100 member artists who share a passion for the development of Henderson’s rich and burgeoning local arts scene.

With a mission to provide art education, scholarships, classes and maintain an art gallery, City Lights also curates exhibits in local libraries, City Hall and various businesses. Everyone affiliated with City Lights is especially proud of the fact that this small but mighty nonprofit has provided scholarships since its inception in excess of $26,000 to local high school students.

Oil, watercolors, acrylics, sketches, sculpture, ceramics and custom jewelry fill every inch of the Gallery which is lovingly and carefully curated to include a wide range of offerings in all price points. From traditional landscapes and portraits to colorful, contemporary art pieces, City Lights Gallery is a visual stunner wrapped up in small town charm.

Operations are very much a team effort given that each member serves as a volunteer host once a month, greeting visitors and passersby looking for special artisan gifts, paintings and ceramics to customize their homes – creating that personal touch missing from a big city operation.

Co-gallery managers Susan LaBuda and Dotty Fenner, both artists themselves, love their “calling” as arts ambassadors for the local arts community. Susan, whose primary medium is oil, taught art at both the elementary and high school levels for CCSD for more than 22 years. Dotty, whose creativity is expressed in a variety of mediums, from free-form ceramics to drawings, acrylics, and watercolors, is a former finance professional turned full-time arts aficionado.

Together, they represent the types of local artists who not only help to keep the lights on the Gallery, they are the very embodiment of the City Lights mantra – the promotion of local art and art education.