By LOIS KINDLE
Apollo Beach resident and entrepreneur Jill Scott is well known throughout South Shore and its arts community.
She’s the former owner of Bark & Purr and, most recently, Home Port Gallery, which she opened about nine years ago in the Waterside Shops of Apollo Beach. Last Christmas, she turned the gallery over to her 32-year-old son, John.
Now, after nine years in the same location, Home Port is relocating.
JILL SCOTT PHOTO
John Scott, 32, artist and owner of Home Port Gallery, puts the finishing touches on a custom-framed Peter Max painting at the gallery’s new location, 228 Apollo Beach Blvd., Apollo Beach.
JILL SCOTT PHOTO
These custom-framed watercolor prints typify the quality of work customers receive consistently at Home Port Gallery. Its services will now be offered in a much larger space and more convenient location.
“Post-Covid, the logistical and economic environment necessitated we move,” Scott said. “As of 5 p.m. May 19, the family will celebrate the gallery’s grand reopening at 228 Apollo Beach Blvd., right next door to Apollo Meats. There will be food, drink, music, a silent auction and lots of laughter. Everyone’s invited.”
John Scott prides himself on outstanding customer service and what his mother calls an “amazing eye for detail.
“He’s a perfectionist and a really good artist in his own right,” she said. “John can reinvent your current art or create something unique for your home. “Nothing is too much of a challenge.”
In its new location, Home Port Gallery will continue to offer all of the same services it did at its former site in a much larger and more convenient space: custom frames, glass replacement, shadow boxes, original art, limited edition prints, memorial flag cases, frame repair and more. All work is fully guaranteed.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Home Port Gallery’s former owner Jill Scott, mother of current owner John Scott, helps set up the gallery’s new location in anticipation of its May 19 grand opening.
Ronni-Kay Elser was one of Jill Scott’s first customer’s when she opened Home Port Gallery. Her home is filled with at least 30 pieces of framed artwork and sports memorabilia. She has also purchased numerous items from the gallery for charity auctions for her local nonprofit group, Seize the Moment Foundation.
Elser gives the gallery a huge thumbs-up and highly recommends it to everyone. She wouldn’t go anywhere else, she said.
“John takes the time to learn what the customer really wants and how it fits into their lifestyle and home,” she 22noted, adding it’s important for her to support local business. “The quality of his work is exceptional.”
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
Home Port Gallery will celebrate the grand opening of its new location, 228 Apollo Beach Blvd., at 5 p.m. May 19. The event will include be food, drink, music, a silent auction and lots of laughter. Everyone’s invited.
Jill Scott’s venture into the art industry began more than 30 years ago, when her husband Dave, then serving in the Air Force, was stationed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Pregnant with John at the time, Scott was already honorably discharged after four years of service in the same military branch.
LOIS KINDLE PHOTO
John Scott and his mother, Jill, pause for a photo in front of frame selections in the design studio of Home Port Gallery. Jill turned the business over to John last Christmas.
When they were in D.C., the couple started Capitol Art and moved it to Apollo Beach in 1989, where the gallery was located in the Fortune Place Plaza.
“After 18 moves over 25 years due to our military obligations, we finally retired in 2009 to our longtime home in Apollo Beach,” Scott said. “We opened Hoffman Porges Gallery in 2011 and our bar, The Bad Monkey, in 2013 [both in Ybor City].
Two years later, I closed Hoffman Porges and reinvented it as Home Port Gallery in Apollo Beach.
Home Port Gallery’s hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Friday and noon to 6 p.m., Saturday. The shop will be closed on Sunday and Monday.
For more information, call 813-294-0831, email hpart@live.com or visit Home Port Gallery on Facebook.