The SDG Center in the small riverside town of Clifton, Tenn., was set up by members of the van Kleef family to be a place of creativity, community-building, and welcoming spirit, offering free art and music lessons along with games, a study area, and a cozy nook for coffee and conversation.

The ability to display artworks was an important part of that mission, and the center’s founders, sisters Gabriëlle and Michaëlle van Kleef, were eager to utilize the elegant wall alcoves built by their father Laurens van Kleefs with hardwoods sourced from his Tropical Timbers importing business.

The addition of Original Gallery System art hanging equipment with integrated art lighting made it possible for each alcove to serve a distinct function. Most were used for display of work done at the Center, and for Gabriëlle’s paintings and portraits, while others could be dedicated to specific student uses, including a still life area, which allowed small objects to be arranged and lit in a variety of ways.

A Valentine exhibition in early 2020 was the Center’s first major event. “All the kids made pieces for people they loved, and we hung them so that they could see their art hanging under proper lighting for the first time,” recalls Gabriëlle, who began her career as an art educator during missionary work in Papua New Guinea where she led informal drawing classes with children.

Their mother Amanda van Kleef notes that on another occasion, “we had a student hang their painting under the art gallery lighting to see what it looked like, and the first thing we all noticed was that the grid lines they’d put on the canvas as a reference were showing through from underneath the paint! It was a wonderful teaching opportunity.”

Or, as Gabriëlle puts it, having professional-quality display capabilities “encourages people working here to seek knowledge that’s also at a more-professional level.”

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked interest in and need for the SDG Center’s services. “Now more than ever people need art,” said Michaëlle. “Having a safe place to create and work through your feelings, and see your art hung up has been very fulfilling. It’s been a bad time, but it’s also helped people deal with the situation.”