by Jennie Lloyd | Photo by Cindy Alvarez
To step into Ziegler Art & Frame at 6
North Lewis is to fall headfirst into
a labyrinthine emporium bursting with all things art. You can get lost in the maze of rooms filled to the brim with art supplies, gifts, paintings, flowers, candles, frames … and Charlie the shop dog. She is a petite 10-year-old Sharpei-Corgi mix who will likely trot over to welcome you to her wonderful art world.
You are more likely to meet Charlie in the mornings, when she’s more feisty. She might shake her paw for you. That does not mean hello, although she is the store’s official greeter. No, she ’s trained to shake hands for treats — she would like a little snack, please.
Trent Morrow, Charlie’s human and the third-generation owner of Ziegler, says, “Shake, I think, is about the first thing I taught her when I got her as a puppy. She always knows she gets treats if she shakes. She often just goes up to strangers and starts lifting her paw like, ‘Here! I’m shaking! Give me something.’ They don’t know what’s going on, they just think, ‘Aww, look at her paw, she’s so cute.’ ”
Charlie rests on a white rug near Morrow but perks her ears up at the word treat. “I’ll give you some in a minute,” Morrow says with a laugh.
Keeping People Happy
Charlie is gentle and curious, mild-mannered and polite. Her wide, sweet face wrinkles charmingly at the brow, and her brown eyes are infused with sunlight. She has the characteristic Sharpei eggplant-purple tongue and a stout Corgi body.
Even after a decade, Charlie still “has the forever-puppy face,” Morrow says. Her deep onyx fur has no trace of gray. She is a quick runner and is adamant about daily walks, no exceptions. “She has her bursts of
excitement, but they are shorter bursts than they used to be,” Morrow says.
Charlie’s composure makes her a topshelf shop dog. “She just kind of understands what it takes to keep people happy and be nice to people. She has a real sense for people. She is definitely the highlight of certain people’s trips down here. I have customers who almost only come in here to see her,” Morrow says.
Ziegler’s employees have grown to count on her too. “She keeps everybody happy, keeps us all in a better mood,” Morrow says. When Charlie isn’t able to come in to the store for whatever reason, “People start getting downcast and saying, ‘We miss our Charlie,’ ” Morrow says.
Charlie has become another iconic part of the Ziegler tradition of arts and framing excellence dating back decades. Morrow is owner of the flagship Kendall-Whittier
neighborhood store. He grew up working with his dad and two uncles.
“We love working here, Charlie and I both,” he says.
A Burgeoning District
Next summer will mark a half century since Ziegler opened at Admiral Boulevard and Lewis Avenue. But long before Kendall-Whittier became a burgeoning arts district, Ziegler “was in a part of town that nobody wanted to be in,” Morrow says of his childhood growing up in the shop.
So for the past seven years, he has worked hard with the rest of the Kendall-Whittier Main Street board to effectively turn the neighborhood around. “We had some pretty sketchy places in, and we’ve kind of moved all of that out and brought desirable businesses in, and it’s turned into a real arts neighborhood,” he says.
Ziegler, with its expansive size and characteristic emerald buildings, looms large in the district.
“In the early days,” Morrow says, Ziegler began “right up here where you walk in the front door; that’s where our retail space started.” It was the size of a typical frame shop. “The idea was always to move farther south to a more desirable location, but then another building would come up for sale, and my grandfather bought all the buildings around here,” Morrow says.
His grandfather was also “a master craftsman, and he connected all of these buildings into one big building.” The current shop is an amalgam of separate buildings that Morrow’s grandfather bound together.
“As you go through there,” Morrow points down a hallway lined with bright-colored paintings, frames, and flowers, “there used to be an alleyway. We had the city let us shut that down and connected the two main buildings.”
At one time, Ziegler stretched more than an entire city block along Admiral Boulevard, part of the original Route 66. But as the neighborhood drew in more artists and businesses, Morrow says, “We’ve been condensing our space and leasing more out to businesses that really complement what we do.” Businesses such as Method Architecture and This Land Press are now housed in spaces that used to be hung with frames and art supplies.
Scampering alongside these fresh, creative Kendall-Whittier business owners and artists are all of their dogs. Charlie has made lots of new friends, especially Boo, artist Marjorie Atwood’s pup. Her studio is across the street from Ziegler, where she and Boo stop by most days to say hi. “Boo has become kind of a staple here,” Morrow says. “We like getting to have our neighbor dogs that we see every day,” he says. The Kendall-Whittier neighborhood has so many shop dogs, a special shop-dog calendar is available for easy access to pettings based on each pup’s schedule.
Kendall-Whittier is the most dog-friendly district in Tulsa, it could be said — a perfect home for Charlie.
