STARKVILLE — Andrew Rendon has been working to carry on his brother Del’s passion for music and art in the Golden Triangle since his death in 2005. Now, almost 17 years later, the Del Rendon Foundation is opening a headquarters and art gallery for the first time.
It is located at 100 GT Thames Drive, Suite C1, by Starkville Physical Therapy and will host a pop-up event from 5-8 p.m. Friday with live music, along with local artists selling their work in person.
“The Del Rendon Foundation … was established in 2006 after the death of my brother … who was a musician and artist in the community who worked at Mississippi State University,” Andrew said. “Originally, we said our mission was to embrace his passion for art and music and to continue that legacy. But I think it’s evolved.”
The Del Rendon Foundation established a $100,000 endowed scholarship at Mississippi State University, financially supports local art events, hosts the Del Rendon Music and Art Festival every year and provides a stipend to the MacGown Art Retreat and Sanctuary’s artist-in-residence program.
But Andrew said the board has been dreaming of opening a gallery for the past few years and has always waited to pull the trigger until now.
“We’re not going to be in such a hurry to make a misstep that will look negatively on Del’s name,” Andrew said. “Everything we do, we do it very, very cautiously, and we take our time. We feel very good about the fact that we’re almost 20 years into this, and we’re in a building and we’ve got a gallery.”
The new gallery and headquarters is a small four-room space that is packed with art everywhere you look, even in the bathroom. Andrew said the new space was donated to the Del Rendon Foundation, making the gallery possible.
“One of the really really important things for me … is that all of this is in-kind donations,” Andrew said. “We don’t have someone working here in the gallery making money.”
Andrew said prints of Del’s work will be available in the space, but the gallery is primarily designed to help local artists sell their art. He said artists are charged a 20% consignment fee, which goes back into supporting local events and art.
“We’re a nonprofit … so that consignment fee is going to be refocused into something that we do next year, whether it’s the artist in residence program, or a music festival, or supporting different activities and events that the Del Rendon Foundation has been supporting,” Andrew said.
The gallery hosted its first event in April, but it is officially opening for regular hours starting Friday. The gallery will be open noon-8 p.m. Fridays and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 44 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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