For 44 years The Golden Gallery has captured local memories in the artwork of Mary Ellen, John W Golden, and the music of John C Golden. For 44 years The Golden Gallery has captured local memories in the artwork of Mary Ellen and John W.
Golden and the music of John C. Golden.
Operating as usual
Come check out John W. Golden’s Nautical Chart art blocks! Ten 6” x 6” blocks in all, showing portions our SENC coast as it appeared in the late 19th century. There’s even one for the Wilmington area. Want a 32” x 40” print of the entire chart? We can do that.
Many, many years ago, Mary Ellen Golden used to paint mini originals. Were you fortunate to pick up an original piece of her work back in the day? Came across 4 original minis this week in the gallery office! We are going to keep these in the family, but plan to offer them as reproductions in our current line of framed mini prints.
Many of you will know that we were so very lucky to know Jane Faudree and to have her as a part of our gallery family for many years. She made our little corner of the world a warm and welcoming place. She will live on through her beautiful family and her art and will always have a place in our hearts.
Share Memories & Support the Family.
Closed today due to inclement weather.
We are watching the weather, y'all. We will be closed Friday and will close Saturday if the weather dictates. Thanks!!
Merry Christmas!! Our holiday hours are as follows: 12/23 (Today) - 10am - 3:30pm, Closed 12/24 through 12/26. We will re-open Monday, 12/27. Closed New Year’s Day. 
Ornaments are underway! We have moved our annual JDRF donation event inside the gallery this year. We could not make a tree happen this year. These are just some of the images that our Type One daughter Kate is helping us make into ornaments this year. If you come in and purchase an ornament for $8, the entire amount will be donated to JDRF to help continue research to make Type One Diabetes a thing of the past. Ornaments will be available through the end of December.
Who out there knows when it’s best to catch Crabby Claws? Wait for it… wait for it… At Yuletide. 🤪 Mary Ellen’s watercolor of a blue crab in a Santa hat is available as prints, cards, and ornaments.
Yesterday was the first day of our 45th year in business! All those years in the Cotton Exchange in Downtown Wilmington. Thank you all for your support over the years!
Here's Mary Ellen checking out our first location (now part of the excellent The Basics) about 2 months before we opened our doors. 5 locations (in the same city block) later, you can now find us in the O'Brien Building along with our dear neighbors Occasions Just Write, Elizabeth's Boutique, Port City Pottery and Fine Crafts, Java Dog and Cape Fear Footwear.
Here is the outside of the first Golden Gallery in October 1977. Yellow bell bottoms!
Hey y’all!! It’s been awhile, what with all that has been going on, but John W’s fish wall is full again! It won’t stay that way long so come down and grab a great gift for your favorite fisher!
Who’s heading out to support artists today for Artists’ Sunday? The gallery will be open 12-4pm today!
Morning, Friends! We will follow a holiday schedule this week: Open Tuesday and Wednesday, 10am to 5:30pm. Closed Thursday-Saturday so each of our little work family can spend time with their own families. We will be here Noon-4pm Sunday for Artist's Sunday. Come down and see us! Thank you all for supporting us!
Hello y’all! We’ve got to make a slight adjustment to our schedule for a bit. We will not be open Mondays for a little while. Will let you know as soon as we can
resume normal hours.
Thanks so much to the Cotton Exchange for featuring women-owned businesses this month, and for being such a wonderful home to the Golden Gallery for 44 years!!
Meet Mary Ellen Golden ⭐️ , owner of The Golden Gallery, one of the first merchants in The Cotton Exchange. Mary Ellen opened The Golden Gallery in 1977 and there is no one better to tell you her story than her. Here are her memories of opening:
"When I moved from Charleston to Wilmington, I decided I would like to open a gallery to show my watercolors. When I saw The Cotton Exchange, I knew where I wanted that gallery to be. My first gallery was about 500 square feet and I furnished it with family antiques. Original watercolors were hung on the walls and I hung pen and ink prints of The Cotton Exchange on the doors of an antique wardrobe I had bought from an antique shop in a little church in Wilmington. I laid tile on top of the tile from the old barbershop that had occupied the space I had chosen. That first December I enjoyed talking to people who wandered through and my husband John played guitar and sang as we staffed The Golden Gallery from 10am until 9pm."
Hey folks, thanks to all who have accommodated our limited hours during lockdown! We will be returning to regular hours April 1st. No joke! Tomorrow though, Saturday the 27th, we will be running on a different schedule: we will open early at 10am and close at 2:30pm.
We’ve got lots of art blocks coming in today and tomorrow from John W. Golden! This is a new 4”x8” block size that lets John make blocks of some of the less long and skinny fish. #flounder #sheepshead
John W’s here today working on making 4” x 5” dog blocks to restock our supply. With over 100 breeds represented, there could be a great little holiday gift that’s perfect for your favorite Fido’s family. These will hit the floor tomorrow, with more coming throughout the week. We should have all of them by Saturday. Local pick-up only for now.
New Fall hours! Monday through Saturday 12pm - 5pm, Closed Sundays.
Hello loyal friends!! We are starting new Fall hours on Friday, October 30. Pretty simple: Mon-Sat, 12pm-5pm. Still closed on Sundays for now.
We are closed today, Saturday, Oct. 17th. A beautiful day to head downtown and check out Cotton Exchange! We hear there be pirates!
We will be closed Saturday, Oct. 17th. See you again on Monday, Oct.19, 12-5pm.
Slight change to this week’s hours: we will be open Monday, Labor Day!
We will be closed Friday, Sunday and Monday, but we will be open Saturday this weekend.
Update to hours!
Hours for the foreseeable future!!
Morning friends! Hours for the week of August 10-16:
Monday, August 10: 12 - 5pm
Tuesday, August 11: 12 - 5pm
Wednesday, August 12: 12 - 5pm
Thursday, August 13: 11 - 5pm
Friday, August 14: 11 - 5pm
Saturday, August 15: 11 - 5pm
Sunday, August 16: CLOSED
Post storm, we need to adjust our schedule a little:
Wednesday, August 5: 12-5pm
Thursday, August 6: 12-5pm
Friday, August 7: 12-5
Saturday, August 8: CLOSED
Sunday, August 9: CLOSED
Hey friends! John W. needs to attend a Zoom meeting at 2pm today, so we will be briefly closed around that time. Otherwise, we are here until 5pm today!
Excited to find a stack of the latest issue of Wrightsville Beach Magazine by the door when we opened this morning! Thanks so much to all the good folks over at one of our favorite publications who made such a wonderful write-up of John W. Golden‘s saltwater fish art possible. We can’t thank you enough for sharing John‘s work with your readers! @ The Golden Gallery
Upcoming Hours:
Thursday, July 30: 11am-5pm
Friday, July 31st: 11am-5pm
Saturday, August 1st: 11-5pm
Sunday, August 2nd: Closed
Monday, August 3rd: 12-5pm
Tuesday, August 4th, Closed
Wednesday, August 5th: 12-5pm
Thursday, August 6th: Closed
Friday, August 7th: 11am-5pm
Saturday, August 8th: 11am-5pm
Sunday, August 9th: Closed
We will add new hours as soon as we know our ability to open.
Updated hours:
Friday, July 24: 11am-5pm
Saturday, July 25: Closed
Sunday, July 26: Closed
Monday, July 27: 12-5pm
Tuesday, July 28: Closed
Wednesday, July 29: 12-5pm
We will add new hours as soon as we know our ability to open.
Timeline Photos
We will not be open Saturday, July 18th or Sunday, July 19th. Sorry we can’t be there to see you this weekend. Remember to keep smiling!
We will be open today, Tuesday, July 14, from noon-4pm, Wednesday, July 15, noon-4pm and Thursday, July 16, noon-4. We will be closed Friday, July 17. Saturday, July 18, TBD.
We will be open today, July 13th, from noon to 4pm. Thanks for bearing with us while we wait for our schedule to settle down.
311 N Front St
Wilmington, NC
28401
| Tuesday | 10am - 5:30pm |
| Wednesday | 10am - 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 10am - 5:30pm |
| Friday | 10am - 5:30pm |
| Saturday | 10am - 5:30pm |
Wall Art. Wall Decor, Watercolors, Photography, Illustration
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You can't get more coastal christmas than NC Lighthouse Ornaments! John W.'s series of the seven keepers of the Carolina coast are available this year on our JDRF charity Christmas tree. Come on down and get your favorite coastal beacon for an $8 donation! JDRF Coastal Carolina Chapter The Cotton Exchange
Holy mackerel! We have limited quantities of John W.'s Saltwater Fish Series Ceramic Mugs in the gallery today! Just these three fish for the moment, but many more are available at johnwgolden.com. Come on down and get one while they last!
Hey gang! We are hosting a charity Christmas tree again this year! Our charity is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation - Coastal Carolina Chapter. We have lots of handmade ornaments this year featuring the work of Mary Ellen Golden and John W. Golden, with all proceeds going to JDRF. Donate $8 and you can take home the ornament of your choice. Let's start things off with a few lovelies from Mary Ellen. Come on down and pick out your ornament(s) today!
John has just brought us two full sets of his nautical flag art blocks!
March yourself right down here this weekend! .... well before March is over 😂🌸
Hey folks! The gallery is now on Instagram!!!! Follow us @thegoldengallerync
Coming in to the Gallery today! Select love-themed blocks in John W.'s popular My Heart Series, Waterwood Series and Never Was Series. Grand statements of love in small packages these, coming in at 3" x 6" (Love is the Very Best) or 4" x 4" (square format). Get a little piece of art that shows your heart today.
Getting ready for tonight. Come check out our fish!🐠🐟🐋
We’ve got Santa and Duke Ladd performing while you wait. Today’s a GREAT day to come down and shop inside! Check out Port City Pottery and Occasions while you’re here!
Is there someone creative on your list? They might enjoy Mary Ellen Golden’s “Watercolor Can Be Easy” watercolor lesson on DVD! It’s only $20 and clearly instructs the painting of a beach scene, a river scene, and a barn. Should be a hit!
Did you miss us today? We’ll be back 12-4 tomorrow! See you then!
Did you know we have stocking stuffers?
Join us! We’re all here!
It’s Merry here!
Such a joy!
Join us today from 2-4pm for our 40th Anniversary Celebration and you can see John W.'s contributions to our Charity Christmas Tree (including his North Carolina Lighthouse Ornaments)!
Here are some of Mary Ellen's contributions to our Charity Christmas Tree benefitting JDRF! Come see these and us this weekend!
New in the shop this morning: long-haired Brown Tabby, French Mastiff, and Collie blocks! John W. has been busy!
4" x 4" blocks of John W.'s new work are here!
Have you seen Mary Ellen's beautiful new Topsail Sunset? No? No worries! Here's an easy fix: come see us tonight for Fourth Friday! We are here until 9pm.
Hope everyone enjoyed the eclipse yesterday! In an event almost as rare, John W. just delivered a whole bunch of new art blocks! Come down and see them for yourself! No special glasses required!
Our little artist! Love
Come to The Golden Gallery for the most comprehensive collection of regional imagery in watercolor, photography and local music. Opened in 1977 in The Cotton Exchange, the gallery has preserved memories for generations of Wilmingtonians and their visitors. From historic downtown vistas to waves lapping at the sandy shore, you will take home gifts and memories of your visit.
Mary Ellen Golden’s watercolors capture the low country light in landscape and floral images. We have originals and prints and many sizes.
John W. Golden’s photography puts you at Wrightsville Beach at dawn, on the Cape Fear River at sunset and in morning’s dappled light in the Historic district. His digital images range from dogs to fish to whimsical creatures for your nursery.
John C. Golden’s CDs enchant you with local songs and legends.
Port City Pottery & Fine Crafts
307 N Front StWhiskey Tango Foxtrot Wilmington NC
111 Grace StreetWilmington Downtown, Inc. (WDI)
226 N Front St, Suite #130