Restaurant Owner, Artist Beautify Greenport

GREENPORT, NY — It takes a village to keep Greenport looking beautiful — and recently, a restaurant owner and local artist teamed up to create magical art from what was once mundane.

Sharon Sailor, owner of Front Street Station, recently commissioned local artist Carla Oberlander of Olive Studio to paint the back walk-in entrance of the restaurant.

"It used to just be an ugly silver freezer box facing Adams Street," Sailor said. "Now, in keeping with Greenport's nautical roots, it's painted, and beautifies the area, as well as our business. It keeps the theme and history of Greenport alive while making our back entrance appealing."

Sailor said she was happy to commission the work, wanting to personally add to the beauty of the restaurant and community through Oberlander's artistry.

"I had eyed her work through the window in the studio for awhile and discussed with Dad" — her father David Sailor is co-owner of the Front Street Station — "that we should have her transform that ugly silver cooler box."

The cost, Sailor said, was within "a reasonable range for a business to spend on an improvement. So we met and decided we wanted to incorporate the train theme, and also, a loose replica of Front Street showcasing this restaurant as the Park Diner. My only instructions were color, lots of color. That's where Carla and her brushes took over," Sailor said.

Oberlander, who is relatively new to Greenport, shared her artistic vision last year, too, painting Emilio's on Main Street.

Oberlander said she was thrilled to work on a project close to where a garden with fresh herbs was growing, near the eatery. "It was exciting." The cooler, she added, "had been such an awful looking thing, and I love to help anything that looks that awful."

Oberlander said she found inspiration in the garden, the train station — and in Greenport's magical light.

And, she said, with mermaids a hallmark of the village, she even found a mermaid suddenly appearing in her mural.

Of the Sailors, she said, "They're a very happy family. And their food is very tasty."

She even found herself transforming a piece of the cooler into the mast of a Tall Ship.

The work, Oberlander said, "became a montage of what I love about Greenport."

Patch photos courtesy of Sharon Sailor.