Before Seagreen Gallery, Will Morgan wasn’t interested in art. Neither was his dad, Phil, or his brother Michael. His mom, Susan Evans, “was really the only artist before we started this store,” Will says.
So when the family opened their eclectic shop in Nags Head in 2010, they stocked the gallery with Susan’s art, as well as commissioned pieces from local artists and crafts from around the world. But before long, Will, Michael, and Phil started contributing to the gallery, too, scouring Pinterest for craft ideas, collecting furniture from antiques sales, and watching YouTube videos to learn how to wire lights and make candles.
The idea was to take items that others might see as trash — driftwood, broken antiques, empty bottles — and turn them into works of art. Almost everything at Seagreen Gallery used to be something else: Susan crafts recycled glass into wall hangings and birdhouses; Phil arranges letters from license plates onto discarded boards from the Nags Head pier; Michael makes clocks out of vinyl records; and Will fashions objects like car grilles and football helmets into light fixtures.
The gallery is constantly evolving as inspiration strikes, especially in Will’s whimsical garden behind the shop, where toy soldiers and dinosaurs are scattered for kids to play with, and chickens, turtles, and the family rabbits, Lloyd and Mini-Pumper, roam free among the plants and water features.
As the family members have grown as artists and discovered their own niches, working together has become the most important part of their shared business. “We’re four legs to a table that would fall without any of us,” Susan says.
Seagreen Gallery
2404 South Virginia Dare Trail
Nags Head, NC 27959
(252) 715-2426
seagreengallery.com