Since its beginnings in 1984, David Leadman and Nancy Marshall of Walls Gallery have spent the years passionately involved with fine art.

Nestled in the trees at what is geographically the center of town, the small gallery houses truly remarkable work by local, national, and international artists as well as a gilding studio and conservation framing facility. Art in the Southeastern US has been all but confined to the formal portrait. But following the advent of air conditioning, people from outside the South have disembarked on the white sand beaches along with their cultural habit.

Although one must still be born in Wilmington to be from Wilmington, the financial and cultural influx accompanying these "outsiders" has been embraced, allowing all the arts in Wilmington to set higher standards. That change in standards has tapped a willingness on the part of Walls' owners to teach Art 101, one on one, at the drop of a hat - often several times a day.

The success of those lessons is measured in wide eyes and oh-now-I-get-its: the first steps to acquiring one's own passion for art. David and Nancy are painters themselves with a shared admiration of printmaking, gilding, and restoration. They provide a combined 54 years, and counting, of experience which takes the form of development of private and corporate art collections, frame making, care of art work, and consultations in clients' homes.