West Falls native Erin Long is an artist who has been selling her paintings throughout Western New York and beyond for nearly 10 years. However, her canvas recently expanded—by a few hundred feet.
“I love to make my own work and sell my own work, but I really get a kick out of selling other people’s work too,” Erin says.
Erin opened ERLO Contemporary, an art gallery meets gift shop, on East Aurora’s Main Street in 2023. It’s an eclectic space offering one-of-a-kind finds including paintings, ceramics, candles, jewelry, handbags and other home goods made by emerging and established artists, at a price ranging from $4 to $4,000.
“I’m not an interior designer. I don’t know anything technical about it,” Erin says. “I go with my gut when curating for the shop. I play around with how things live with each other. When I put this piece next to this piece, how does that change? Curating has become part of my art now.”
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Erin’s gut feeling for curation is easily felt as you navigate the space. Round tables invite you to snake through and notice something new at every turn. There are colorful vignettes spotlighting different artists on one wall and built-in cabinet shelves and drawers filled with treasures on the other. Everything is perfectly placed for you to happen upon it.
“I go with my gut when curating for the shop," says ERLO Contemporary owner and artist Erin Long. "I play around with how things live with each other. When I put this piece next to this piece, how does that change? Curating has become part of my art now.”
“I’ve always loved museum gifts shops. You can’t take the art from the walls, but you’ve been inspired by it all day. The gift shop is a place where you can still get something special,” Erin explains. “I want us to be a place where you can be inspired and then actually take it home with you.”
ERLO Contemporary makes art more accessible by “removing all the fluff” of typical gallery environments. You won’t see any pristine white walls or ropes between you and each piece. Instead, Erin wants the shop setting to encourage you to interact with each piece and feel connected with it before making it yours.
“I always wanted it to be small and special and evolving. That way it always feels personal. Our homes are like that,” she says. “Because at the end of the day, it’s you in your home walking around in the quiet moments. You’re brushing your teeth and you see a painting that you hung next to a vase, and it makes you happy.”
