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Perfecting ‘The Art of Cake’: New gallery to feature dessert-inspired artwork

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Dec 16, 2022

Bundt cake-inspired artwork, created by Concrete Lounge, sit on display in The Art of Cake gallery. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — At 104 South King Street, dessert lovers can anticipate getting a double-dose of sweetness, as they purchase gourmet baked goods from the location’s bakery, Sugar Whipped, and look at original, dessert-inspired artwork around the space’s gallery.

The Art of Cake gallery is run by Sugar Whipped’s business owners, Emily Hooper and Danie Armstrong, who realized while decorating their new location’s interior in preparation for its Nov. 19 opening, that they wanted to use it to highlight the work of Shepherd University alumni and local artists.

“As I brainstormed about returning to brick and mortar as a bake shop creating mostly cake, I couldn’t ignore that our cake is truly art,” Armstrong said. “Shepherdstown is a thriving arts scene. It felt like a fun and fitting concept to bring to our town.

“My personal background is in art as I took years of art classes and studied art overseas in my late teens,” Armstrong said. “While my personal background is rooted in the arts, I never expanded on that until I utilized those skills in confectionery arts. The artistic cakes we make inspired me to merge what we already do with other art mediums to create a gallery space that can feature both.”

The gallery is usually open on the weekend, whenever Sugar Whipped’s doors are open.

Paintings created by Elizabeth Temple and Brittany Smith are featured in The Art of Cake gallery, which shares space with Sugar Whipped bakery. Tabitha Johnston

Currently, the gallery features the work of seven different artists: Wayan Rata, who is an established tattoo and ink artist local to Jefferson County; Meredith Barrett, who is an acrylic artist and owner of Merely Creative, a paint party business; Katie Parr, a Shepherdstown-based artists who creates concrete art as part of her business, Concrete Lounge; Sheila Mace, a local artist known for her whimsical doodle art and realistic pet portraits, created under the business title Art by Weeze; Lindsey Kesecker, who is a Shepherdstown local with a fine arts bachelor’s degree from West Virginia University; Elizabeth Temple, who is a current Shepherd University student; and Brittany Smith, who is a Shepherd University alumna with a bachelor’s of fine arts degree in painting.

“At this time, we have watercolor, acrylic, ink, modge podge, digital, concrete and spackle art!” Armstrong said. “We are definitely growing in diverse mediums, which is really exciting.”

According to Armstrong, one challenge she faced when establishing the gallery, was finding art that would fit the gallery’s theme.

“After I came up with this idea, I immediately reached out to some artist contacts, and then ran a small blurb on social media. None of the artist [I contacted] were creating dessert art, but I approached them with the idea, explaining how it can be a fun theme to tie into any style of art. They were all super receptive and up to the challenge,” Armstrong said, mentioning a few of the gallery pieces have already sold.

“We hope they enjoy the art, and realize that it can add a lot of beauty to their kitchen spaces or other areas of their homes, should they decide to purchase any. We want to create a space that customers will want to walk into and just check out what is new, whether that is visual cake or edible cake!” Armstrong said, mentioning they retain 10 percent of the proceeds from every piece sold, except for the art by students, which is charged no commission.

Cupcakes, created by Concrete Lounge, sit on a windowsill in The Art of Cake gallery. Tabitha Johnston

In the future, Armstrong anticipates holding student exhibits, meet-the-artist receptions, painting classes and cake art classes.

Artists interested in showing their work in the gallery can contact The Art of Cake’s owners via their website, www.eatsugarwhipped.com.