A local treasure resides at 81-83 Fall Street in nearby Seneca Falls. Known as Temperance Tavern, the business includes an upscale bar, a picture framing shop called Heirloom Picture Framing and an art gallery known as Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Bloomers' Gallery in reference to the village's role in civil rights history.
Jason Rearick / The Citizen
Kathy and Jack Pross, owners of Temperance Tavern, Heirloom Picture Framing and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Bloomers' Gallery with their dogs Dewey, left, and Louie in their gallery.
Kathy and Jack Pross, owners of Temperance Tavern, Heirloom Picture Framing and Elizabeth Cady Stanton's Bloomers' Gallery with their dogs Dewey, left, and Louie in their gallery.
Owned by Jack and Kathy Pross, this unique business is the world's only art bar with picture framing. Having moved to Seneca Falls from New Hampshire, the Prosses bought a store that was not originally for sale, spent all of their savings on restoring it and now sell art in one side and run a bar in the other.
According to Jack, the couple moved to Seneca Falls for the quality of life and the people - despite the high taxes. After having lived in western New York in the 1970s, Jack left in 1978 when he was transferred for his job. Never forgetting the kindness of upstate New Yorkers and the serene beauty of the landscape, the Prosses returned after 21 years in New Hampshire.
When the couple arrived in Seneca Falls, they were greeted by town officials who accepted them immediately and worked to make them part of the community. The Prosses even have a story about the state senator whose office is just down the road from their building. When the couple tried to open for an induction ceremony for the senator, just to sell sodas and water for visitors, they could not obtain approval until the hot water was running. And they could not obtain hot water until their gas was connected. The gas company told them it would take two weeks to hook up, delaying their opening. After mentioning the incident to the senator, the next day the gas company hooked up their gas, and the Prosses were able to partially open their new business.
“We just were not happy so we were looking for another place to go. After 21 years in New Hampshire, I really didn't have any friends, but I still had friends from where we were in New York. We decided to come to the women's rights national park because Kathy has been into women's issues in her art,” Jack said. “We're really happy here. There's no question about it. It's inspirational to us, to our art. (During) our first two weeks here, we had more people look at our art than in all of the years in New Hampshire. We do everything in our art. We feel we're going to get the right amount of exposure (here).”
The Bloomers' Gallery is all about the Prosses' artwork and a little bit about tourism. Kathy calls it her human rights exhibit, spotlighting women's issues with original artwork such as the symbol for womanhood made out of steel and tiles with quotations from Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in souvenir sizes for tourists to purchase. Also available in the gallery are wine and shot glasses, in keeping with the tavern theme. Both paint in all mediums and work as well in pastels, pencils, clay, steel, flameworking. Now, Jack even dabbles in creating movies, using a new medium - digital.
Kathy's art has taken a political turn since moving to a site that holds so much history for the civil rights movement. Through her reading about the history of Seneca Falls and all of the women who worked towards the common goal of civil rights, she created a 40-inch by 60-inch canvas depicting a flag with words in it. The pair will also display their art in the 11th annual juried art show with the Seneca County Arts Council on display July 14 through Aug. 14, at the visitors center.
“So much of my exhibition is about human rights, and that's what's inspired me about Seneca Falls,” she said. “Starting with temperance and the abolitionists and everything that's been here.”
According to Kathy, the gallery's name refers to Emilia Bloomer, a temperance leader who wrote for a newspaper called The Lily during Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life. One of Stanton's cousins traveled to Turkey and found that women were wearing trousers there and brought the idea back to Stanton. Stanton began to wear the trousers so her dress could be shorter and she could go up the stairs holding a baby and a candle not having to worry about tripping. They gave the pattern to Bloomer for her newspaper to share the freedom with all women who read it, and the trousers were from then on dubbed “bloomers.”
In Temperance Tavern, the Prosses offer a selection of Finger Lakes wines plus others. They also support local breweries, offering Saranac and Ithaca beers and are looking into adding more western New York products to their stock. Although their tavern boasts artistic ambiance, the Prosses would rather be artists and do picture framing. All picture framing is done on premises in the old fashioned way - bubble glass is even available. According to Jack, most frame shops will stop taking orders three or four weeks before the holidays, but Heirloom Picture Framing can take them up until Christmas Eve. The Prosses are capable of completing nearly any framing task because all materials are on hand, and their business offers gifts and collectibles stocked from 35 companies inside the shop.
Heirloom Picture Framing's name changed in the move from New Hampshire, where the couple's business was called Bedford Framing and Arts Center. They changed the name to Heirloom for this new location and because, according to Jack, there are many corporate picture framing shops but Kathy has been doing it for 32 years, and her ability to preserve family heirlooms is far beyond average.
“Nobody can take those precious things and make such beautiful pieces that hang on the wall. It's got to be done properly and we are experts. And I also tell people that she can look into the future - she knows how to pick the colors so they will look good after two years. Most picture framers are not artists and we combine artistry with picture framing. It's a perfect combination,” Jack explained.
The Prosses' equipment is state of the art and fully computerized. All of their saws are top of the line, pneumatic and double miter. They also use what was until recently the largest edition of mounting machine ever made.
Not to be forgotten, Temperance Tavern, which is decorated with all of the Prosses' own artwork as well as memorabilia from the Temperance era, features Friday night live jazz. In the future, Jack plans to show movies in the bar and hopes to attract students from local universities to play some of their own films. To take advantage of their waterfront location, the Prosses also plan to build a deck overlooking the water in the future.
“There's just so many things to do,” Jack said.
The tavern's memorabilia includes hatchets from Temperance legend Carrie Nation, who lived in the late 19th century. Nation, who was six feet tall, was known for walking into bars with a hatchet in one hand and a Bible in the other and chopping bars to pieces in protest of the abuse of alcohol. Jack explains that Temperance in those days fought against the fact that people could not find clean water to drink, but they could drink beer because it had been superheated, removing bacteria, so even children would drink alcohol. The bar's name is a tribute to the history of the location and to the people who worked for a better quality of life for others.
According to Jack, the couple moved to Seneca Falls for the quality of life and the people - despite the high taxes. After having lived in western New York in the 1970s, Jack left in 1978 when he was transferred for his job. Never forgetting the kindness of upstate New Yorkers and the serene beauty of the landscape, the Prosses returned after 21 years in New Hampshire.
When the couple arrived in Seneca Falls, they were greeted by town officials who accepted them immediately and worked to make them part of the community. The Prosses even have a story about the state senator whose office is just down the road from their building. When the couple tried to open for an induction ceremony for the senator, just to sell sodas and water for visitors, they could not obtain approval until the hot water was running. And they could not obtain hot water until their gas was connected. The gas company told them it would take two weeks to hook up, delaying their opening. After mentioning the incident to the senator, the next day the gas company hooked up their gas, and the Prosses were able to partially open their new business.
“We just were not happy so we were looking for another place to go. After 21 years in New Hampshire, I really didn't have any friends, but I still had friends from where we were in New York. We decided to come to the women's rights national park because Kathy has been into women's issues in her art,” Jack said. “We're really happy here. There's no question about it. It's inspirational to us, to our art. (During) our first two weeks here, we had more people look at our art than in all of the years in New Hampshire. We do everything in our art. We feel we're going to get the right amount of exposure (here).”
The Bloomers' Gallery is all about the Prosses' artwork and a little bit about tourism. Kathy calls it her human rights exhibit, spotlighting women's issues with original artwork such as the symbol for womanhood made out of steel and tiles with quotations from Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in souvenir sizes for tourists to purchase. Also available in the gallery are wine and shot glasses, in keeping with the tavern theme. Both paint in all mediums and work as well in pastels, pencils, clay, steel, flameworking. Now, Jack even dabbles in creating movies, using a new medium - digital.
Kathy's art has taken a political turn since moving to a site that holds so much history for the civil rights movement. Through her reading about the history of Seneca Falls and all of the women who worked towards the common goal of civil rights, she created a 40-inch by 60-inch canvas depicting a flag with words in it. The pair will also display their art in the 11th annual juried art show with the Seneca County Arts Council on display July 14 through Aug. 14, at the visitors center.
“So much of my exhibition is about human rights, and that's what's inspired me about Seneca Falls,” she said. “Starting with temperance and the abolitionists and everything that's been here.”
According to Kathy, the gallery's name refers to Emilia Bloomer, a temperance leader who wrote for a newspaper called The Lily during Elizabeth Cady Stanton's life. One of Stanton's cousins traveled to Turkey and found that women were wearing trousers there and brought the idea back to Stanton. Stanton began to wear the trousers so her dress could be shorter and she could go up the stairs holding a baby and a candle not having to worry about tripping. They gave the pattern to Bloomer for her newspaper to share the freedom with all women who read it, and the trousers were from then on dubbed “bloomers.”
In Temperance Tavern, the Prosses offer a selection of Finger Lakes wines plus others. They also support local breweries, offering Saranac and Ithaca beers and are looking into adding more western New York products to their stock. Although their tavern boasts artistic ambiance, the Prosses would rather be artists and do picture framing. All picture framing is done on premises in the old fashioned way - bubble glass is even available. According to Jack, most frame shops will stop taking orders three or four weeks before the holidays, but Heirloom Picture Framing can take them up until Christmas Eve. The Prosses are capable of completing nearly any framing task because all materials are on hand, and their business offers gifts and collectibles stocked from 35 companies inside the shop.
Heirloom Picture Framing's name changed in the move from New Hampshire, where the couple's business was called Bedford Framing and Arts Center. They changed the name to Heirloom for this new location and because, according to Jack, there are many corporate picture framing shops but Kathy has been doing it for 32 years, and her ability to preserve family heirlooms is far beyond average.
“Nobody can take those precious things and make such beautiful pieces that hang on the wall. It's got to be done properly and we are experts. And I also tell people that she can look into the future - she knows how to pick the colors so they will look good after two years. Most picture framers are not artists and we combine artistry with picture framing. It's a perfect combination,” Jack explained.
The Prosses' equipment is state of the art and fully computerized. All of their saws are top of the line, pneumatic and double miter. They also use what was until recently the largest edition of mounting machine ever made.
Not to be forgotten, Temperance Tavern, which is decorated with all of the Prosses' own artwork as well as memorabilia from the Temperance era, features Friday night live jazz. In the future, Jack plans to show movies in the bar and hopes to attract students from local universities to play some of their own films. To take advantage of their waterfront location, the Prosses also plan to build a deck overlooking the water in the future.
“There's just so many things to do,” Jack said.
The tavern's memorabilia includes hatchets from Temperance legend Carrie Nation, who lived in the late 19th century. Nation, who was six feet tall, was known for walking into bars with a hatchet in one hand and a Bible in the other and chopping bars to pieces in protest of the abuse of alcohol. Jack explains that Temperance in those days fought against the fact that people could not find clean water to drink, but they could drink beer because it had been superheated, removing bacteria, so even children would drink alcohol. The bar's name is a tribute to the history of the location and to the people who worked for a better quality of life for others.
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