Since he was a little boy Walter DeGroot, 61, has lived a life sculpted by art.
DeGroot, who opened the Greenport Art & Design Emporium on Route 25 just over a week ago, has brought a unique new business to the area that features furniture, nautical decor, original art and vintage prints, in addition to framing and art restoration services.
His business, DeGroot, who lives near Port Jefferson, said, focuses on vintage items and those with a nautical flair. “I have airplane, boat and car models, a lot of guy stuff, but something for anyone, really,” he said.
In addition, the business features a gallery upstairs in an 800-square foot space where DeGroot hopes to foster the fledling careers of new artists.
Reflecting on his life, DeGroot said, “I’m a sculptor by trade, second generation. My dad was a sculpture and painter, and I’ve been doing it for 50 years.”
Laughing, he added, “I didn’t have a choice. I was his apprentice, his little helper.”
DeGroot said he started out mixing plaster, sweeping the floor, and keeping his father’s tools organized, and later, going along on jobs. “Before you know it, I had to make an arm or a foot, and he’d help me through it.”
Keeping his father’s legacy alive, DeGroot, over the past 30 years, has owned four shops similar to the one he opened in Greenport.
Architectural ornamentation and specialty restoration of building ornamentation and sculpture is his specialty, he said.
Greenport, he said, speaks to his artistic sensibilities. “I’ve always loved the North Fork,” he said. Once he got divorced, DeGroot said, “I figured now’s my chance to open up a business here.”
Between sculpture repair and restoration, building furniture the gallery, and the vintage prints and framing, DeGroot said he hopes to create an artistic complex.
After spending years on long commutes to New York City or Connecticut, DeGroot is happy to have a location in Greenport.
“I remember a couple of years ago, we worked in city during the worst heat spell in long time; one of my guys almost passed out. I said on the way home, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore’.”
Although all of his restoration projects are meaningful, some stand out, DeGroot said, including one at the Vanderbilt mansion, where he rebuilt an ornate wooden staircase that had led to “Willy Vanderbilt, Jr.s” bedroom in the bell tower.
And now, DeGroot said, he hopes to give other young artists their big break in his gallery. “When I was young, in my teens and 20s, it was very difficult for anyone to take a young artist seriously, as far as showing your work,” he said.
Art of all kinds, including oil paintings by Ukrainian painters, “are available for a good price,” as well as a wide array of decorative items for the home.
DeGroot’s shop, located at 67380 Main Road in Greenport, he said, will be open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., until Christmas, when the hours may change. For additonal information, call 631-333-2141 or click here.
