Former FUSE Instructor Starts Framing Business in Moab

Woman and hutch.

Anneloes van Beek, a former FUSE instructor and shop technician, recently opened a frame shop in Moab, Utah. In August, she was awarded one of two creative-reuse focused residencies at Moab Arts. During her residency, she made the rounds to a local landfill, transfer center, and secondhand shop WabiSabi, incorporating finds from each into her Americana Folk Art. All of her projects included various wood materials. She made the piece above by reassembling material from discarded furniture and painting it with designs inspired by local wildlife. For another piece, she broke down an African mahogany desk that had been infested with mud-dauber wasps and used the wood to create a toolbox that incorporated decorative elements from a vintage Singer sewing machine case she acquired from a friend. Her goal was to motivate other artists to consider where their supplies come from, and to encourage them to repurpose existing materials.

Anneloes felt drawn to the small tourist town during her residency; she formed strong relationships with many of the people who had helped her along the way. The workshops that she taught at the Moab Arts were extremely popular, so much so that the organization asked if she would continue to teach them after her residency was through. Several galleries expressed an interest in displaying her work. There were so many possibilities for her that she chose to move there permanently. Through her new framing business, AVA Frames, she is doing work that will beautify Moab and beyond. Printmaker Anna Pausch will frame her woodblock prints in Anneloes’ work to showcase at the La Quinta Art Celebration Encore in the Palm Springs area. You may see her frames around Albuquerque as well, including a potential upcoming project at the Sunport. She still drops by FUSE periodically, so keep a look out for Anneloes and her frames.