Walking down Main Street in Talkeetna, the bright yellow Denali Dry Goods building is hard to miss. Built in the 1920s, it’s one of the oldest buildings in the area. For around the last fifty years, the building was home to Denali Dry Goods, where locals Tom and Margie Waite sold a variety of goods and Alaskan Native artwork. That was up until earlier this year, when the Waites decided it was time to sell.
Talkeetna resident Stacey Smiley said she jumped at the chance to buy the historic building. She’s the owner of the Dancing Leaf Gallery–an art gallery just down the street from Denali Dry Goods. She said she and her husband wanted to make sure the location stays local and keeps its focus on Alaskan Native art.
“We didn’t want that property to go to another restaurant or another bar,” she said.
Even if a few things inside the store look different, Smiley said she’s dedicated to preserving the space. She even kept the original sign and the name.
“We kept the name Denali Dry Goods. We have a very long name now, officially. We’re Denali Dry Goods: Alaska Native Art Gallery, and there’s an LLC on the end of that,” she said, “So it’s a mouthful.”
The new storefront opened at the end of May and currently houses the work of about thirty different native Alaskan artists. Smiley added that this is just the beginning; she hopes to display more artists’ work and continue growing the gallery’s collection.
