Art Source

Art Source was named to convey its purpose: a place where architects, designers and corporate clients can find the look in paintings and sculpture that dovetails with their company image, says Cristel Citko, owner of the new art gallery.

The 8,000-square-foot space at the Foothill Commerce Center on South Virginia, chosen due to its proximity to other home decorating firms, includes showroom, framing center and private conference room.

The open gallery space includes breakout areas for a prints room, framing room, and consultation office.

Downstairs, a cube wall allows for hanging flexibility, while upstairs a slot wall serves the same purpose.

Large format paintings can be viewed from the loft,where exposed ductwork is reminiscent of big city loft space.

Citko's husband, Tony, designed the look of the gallery.

Art works range from $2,000 to $24,000.

The store offers trial installations that allow customers to live with a piece before they decide to purchase, says Citko.

The gallery is open to the public from 10 a.m.

to 5 p.m.

on Tuesday,Wednesday and Thursday or by appointment.

The limited hours the store is open leaves time to work with clients by appointment, says Citko, who also plans to continue her South Lake Tahoe-based business as a private art dealer.

She owned a gallery at Round Hill Mall in South Lake Tahoe for six years.

In Los Angeles, where she once ran a retail art store, she maintains a 10,000-square-foot warehouse.

The warehouse space in Reno and California provides what Citko believes is her firm's competitive edge "wide inventory, so people don't have to settle for a look that's not what they want, simply because it's all that's available." Art is the easy part of the business, says Citko.

"I know art.Marketing is the hardest part; getting the word out that we're here."

She plans to work one-on one with designers and architects, and to network with designers by inviting them to evening events.

"I want to know what people want; how is Reno growing.

I want to establish a focus group of designers who have a pulse on what the taste is.With builders to know what are they building,what materials they are using so I know how to hang on those materials.

When new companies come in, I want to know what is their image, their logo, their look," Citko says.

An art consultant for 25 years, Citko served corporate clients in San Jose under the business name Contract Source Center.

Clients in the Bay area included Mitsubishi, General Electric and the City of Sunnyvale.

In Napa Valley she provided art for Opus Wine.At South Lake Tahoe, for Barton Memorial Hospital.

In Reno, for commercial and corporate design firms.

Art Source had leased a temporary location in central Reno last year.

There, says Citko, the focus was on charity fundraiser events for groups such as the Boys and Girls Club,Nevada Opera and Virginia Range Comstock Wild Horses.