Lake Highlands Family-Owned Gallery Continues Tradition With Second-Generation Owners

Even as a child, East Dallas resident Sharon Hodges had an affinity for art. On Saturdays, she often made the trek from her home east of White Rock Lake to the Dutch Art Gallery in Lake Highlands.

“Riding downtown to the art galleries — that was a little far for me and not real safe, but I could ride my bicycle over [to the Dutch Art Gallery] and hang out and look at art,” Hodges said.

At age 12, she sold her first piece of art at the Lake Highlands gallery. About four or five years ago, after she began painting again, she returned to the family-owned gallery to sell her paintings once more.

“Sometimes you walk into a gallery and it’s intimidating…and the Dutch Art Gallery is just the opposite of that. It’s a very welcoming place. It’s a very honest place,” said Hodges, 58.

Current owners Hans and Pam Massar of Rockwall believe it’s the hospitable atmosphere that has kept generations of families returning.

Hans’ late parents, Ben and Ann Massar, opened the gallery in the Northlake Shopping Center off Northwest Highway in November 1965.

Before the construction of Interstate 635, Northwest Highway served as a bustling east-west route connecting travelers from Garland and Mesquite to Dallas.

“He wanted to be in a shopping center where it would attract a lot of people to come and visit,” Hans said.

Looking back, Hans said he realizes his father was really an entrepreneur.

As a 14-year-old in Holland, Ben first sold fresh produce door to door. Eventually he opened a brick-and-mortar grocery store in downtown Delft, Holland, Netherlands, and later moved to a location in a newer part of the city, Hans said.

When the Massar family came to the United States, Ben decided to shift his business focus to culture.

“So he went from a fresh grocery business that you have to sell

in three days or give it to the pigs, to bringing it over here [and starting an art gallery], you could have an oil painting and have it forever,” Hans said.

A Family Affair

Ben didn’t have a background in art.

“He’s always really enjoyed art and he dabbled in painting, but he was not an artist,” Hans said.

To get his gallery off the ground, Ben met with local artists and also gleaned expertise from artists and gallery owners back home in Holland.

As teenagers, Hans and his two brothers spent many of their school vacations working in their parents’ gallery.

Although their parents likely wished their children would carry on the family business, they encouraged them to each pursue their own careers.

The three Massar children chose to practice law.

Over the years, Hans said the gallery’s inventory has varied from Texas artwork to paintings from European masters hand-picked by his father on regular trips overseas.

At one time, Hans said his father even sold jewelry and museum replica pieces.

“My father and mother always wanted to please the customer. They wanted to make sure everyone had a nice piece of art in their home,” Hans said.

Pam, who took over managing the gallery when her in-laws retired in 1990, said when a customer asked about custom framing for the artwork, Ben added that as well.

Framing is what first brought long-time customer and Lake Highlands resident Jo Baggett into the gallery as a young mother.

Now as a grandmother, she has purchased several works of art and taken in a number of family heirlooms to be framed.

Pam said she enjoys learning the stories behind the artifacts brought in to be stitched behind the glass — from World War II frogman masks to baptismal gowns.

Baggett has noticed Pam’s attention to detail.

“That’s where she’s so special because she takes a personal interest,” Baggett said.

Staying With The Times

At one time Hans said his parents owned three other gallery locations — one in the Adolphus Hotel and two others in Park Cities and Richardson.

The flagship gallery began in a lean 1,500 square-foot space and later occupied 10,000 square feet of the shopping center. The family later downsized to its current 7,000 square-foot space in Lake Highlands, Hans said.

“With 9/11 and economy changes we’ve seen, a lot of people in the art industry phase out or shut down their businesses … It wasn’t easy by any means, but we hung in there,” Pam Massar said.

Hans believes it’s the gallery’s loyal customer base that has helped it weather the tough economic times.

‘They’ve also learned to not be resistant to change,” he said.

That means keeping pace with the ever-changing art world and offering up more contemporary works such as brighter, bolder pieces.

There’s also a higher turnover on artwork. Each month customers can expect at least half of the artwork on the walls to be fresh, he said.

About six or seven years ago, Hans said they also established alliances with art organizations such as Artists of Texas, of which Hodges is a part.

The gallery averages three or four art shows a year — with a major show in the fall and spring.

Hodges, whose artwork will be among almost 100 other pieces juried in the upcoming spring show, said she plans to maintain relations with the Dutch Art Gallery.

“It’s my home base. It’s always going to be where my heart is,” she said.

Richardson editor Heather Noel can be reached at 214-977-8715.

Originally printed in the NeighborsGo of the Dallas Morning News.