Artwork hung all around the three rooms of Olson-Larsen Galleries, rectangles covered in oils, acrylics, charcoal, watercolors and collages on myriad subjects and in myriad styles. Sculptures rested on tables and pedestals, here a writhing strip of metal, there a luminous glass stalactite oozing from a suspended rock. Marlene Olson’s eyes occasionally darted to a newly hung artwork, just a hair askew. As she spoke, she resisted the urge to cross the room and straighten it. In just three days, Olson-Larsen’s newest exhibition would open with at least one piece from each artist the gallery represents. It was an exhibition 25 years in the making.

Olson grew up in Gilman, near Grinnell, and received her bachelor’s degree from Central College in 1969. After graduation, she worked as an elementary school teacher, and her husband, Gary, was an artist.

“If not for him, I would not own a gallery,” Olson said.

The couple spent a lot of time visiting galleries and museums, and Gary Olson became an artist-in-residence, first in Estherville, then in Le Mars. He taught children about art, and together the couple brought musicians, visual artists and poets to visit and interact with the rural communities. The project gave Marlene Olson experience working with artists and contact with the Iowa Arts Council, which hired her in the mid-70s to coordinate its educational programs. While working there, she formed a friendship with co-worker, Ann Larsen.

In 1979, Olson and Larsen decided to create their own business and bought a space, then Jan’s Gallery, from Jan Shotwell. Olson said she was comfortable running the gallery from the start. She liked working with the artists, and coordinating their work with the needs and desires of clients. It was only handling the financial aspects of the business that took getting used to. Olson and Larsen were frugal in the beginning, and paid themselves little. Their spouses’ salaries helped them get by.

“If I’d known how hard the early years would be, I probably wouldn’t have done it,” she said. “I have no regrets now, of course. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather be doing.”

In 1984, Larsen moved away, and Olson took full ownership of the business. Seven years ago, Olson bought an adjacent space and created the first “annex gallery.” Two years later, she added a second annex. The additions gave her more space to exhibit artwork, a larger storage area and higher ceilings, which allow larger artwork to be displayed. To move from the front gallery to the back annexes, patrons walk through a galley kitchen and a hallway lined with vertical slits in which paintings are stowed. A nook holds larger artwork.

“I am not expanding anymore,” she exclaimed, playfully pounding her fists on a tabletop. “Maintaining three spaces, three furnaces and three air conditioners is enough.”

Olson-Larsen represents regional artists and artists with “Iowa connections.” Some grew up here but moved away; others went to college in the Hawkeye State. One reason is Olson adopted the strategy that local art is popular, but she says it is also more convenient when the artists can drop off their work instead of having it delivered. The galleries currently represent more than 70 artists, and Olson says she’s not looking to expand her talent pool.

“We’ve been pretty well filled for quite a few years,” she said. “I can only promote so many artists. I can only hold so many shows a year. I don’t add artists without thinking about that. If I can’t show their work, I can’t sell it.”

She is proud of the new exhibition, with all of her artists’ work on display. The Olson-Larsen Galleries’ 25th Anniversary Exhibition will run through May 15, giving visitors a chance to see it during Historic Valley Junction’s Gallery Night April 16. On Gallery Night, from 5 to 9 p.m. several local galleries will offer exhibitions and refreshments. The Valley Junction merchants work together to organize the event, Olson said, and most work together to present the neighborhood’s Art Market May 16 and Art Festival Sept. 19.

“I’ve been approached about moving, but I always say, ‘No, I like it down here,’” Olson said. “We all get along. It’s a nice community, like a small town.”