Artifacts Gallery has anchored the corner of South Broad and Elm Streets for 25 years, bringing some panache to the otherwise frayed remnants of the city’s second largest commercial district.
The brainchild of husband and wife team Marge Miccio and Bob Wagner, Artifacts Gallery is a treasure to those who have discovered Trenton’s only frame shop.
Artifacts opened its doors on Sept. 4, 1986 after Marge, who had been working in a framing shop, decided to strike out on her own. Having successfully homesteaded and restored a home in Trenton’s Mill Hill neighborhood, Miccio and Wagner decided to try their hand at a retail business.
They bought the circa 1880s former Zickwolff’s bar cum beauty parlor from the granddaughter of the original owner. Bob continued working as a teacher at the county Vo-tech school (automotive science) while Miccio and her parents staffed the store.
Besides offering custom framing, the shop also exhibited and sold works by local artists. Over time, the rotating shows stopped, but the store still features original pieces by Miccio, an award-winning pastel artist known for her colorful scenes and still lifes.
For many the real attraction has been the Trenton memorabilia and ephemera that have filled the shop from day one.
Because of their penchant for finding and selling Trentoniana, Bob and Marge built a reputation among local collectors. Friends and strangers alike would show up at the store bearing boxes of stuff as family homes were downsized or broken up; what items not dispersed to relatives or set out for trash would be brought to Artifacts in the hope of finding a new home in someone else’s collection.
The happenstances of such a rich source of inventory are played out in a couple of favorite stories.
“A woman came in to look at some vintage frames,” Miccio related. “She recognizes herself in an old photo of a wedding party that I had just happened to have placed in one of the frames for display purposes.”
In another instance, a window display containing old photos drew the attention and subsequent ire of an individual passing by. He recognized the pictures as being of his family and stormed into the shop demanding to know how they came to be in store’s possession.
Seems as though a clean-out of the family home had resulted in the photos being left at curbside in a box. Someone picked them up and brought them to Bob and Marge for disposal as they saw best.
Miccio had put some of them on display not realizing that there were still family members in the area who desired the pictures. The stranger was appeased by allowing him to take whatever portion of the collection he wanted.
In the summer of 2010, Artifacts sold a variety of items to the producers of One for the Money, the Katherine Heigl film based on Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum book. Although the still unreleased film was shot in and around Pittsburgh, the film like the book is set in Trenton and the production team was looking for bits of set dressing to add authenticity to the movie.
Some might consider decorative items and custom framing luxuries in a down economy. But it is also a time when people invest more in their homes, and that helps businesses like Artifacts carry through.
Artifacts Gallery counts amongst its regular customers institutional clients like International Sculpture Center, Princeton University and New Jersey Future, to name a few. Noted for their craftsmanship and archival work, Miccio and Wagner were chosen to frame the famed letter from George Washington to the ladies of Trenton that is the pride of the Trentoniana collection at the city library.
The store has a Web presence to compliment onsite sales. Marge was an early adopter of eBay and the story has a website, artifactsgallerytrenton.com.
Recent changes in the Urban Enterprise Zone regulations provided the opportunity for Artifacts to enroll in the program. Before he was let go by the city, Anthony Carabelli Jr. realized that could be a potential aid to Artifacts Gallery and contacted Wagner and Miccio about it. The result is the business, because of its location in one of Trenton’s UEZ districts, charges only 3.5 percent sales tax to customers.
In true small-business fashion, Bob and Marge know the mutual benefit of being engaged with the community. Bob served as President of the South Broad Street Community Civic Association for a decade, and was a founding member of the South District Citizen Police Advisory Council.
The store has supported various community activities by purchasing ads in program books. They also have often made the store available as a signing station for various petitions such as the mayoral recall effort currently underway.
It’s that kind of civic engagement, quality work and customer service that has made Artifacts Gallery, and Bob and Marge, a vital part of the Trenton community for a quarter of a century.
Artifacts Gallery, 1025 S. Broad St., Trenton. Hours: Tuesday–Friday 9-5:30; Saturday 10–4; and by appointment. (609) 599-9081 or send email to margemiccio@artifactsgallerytrenton.com.
