SUTTON, W.Va. -- You don't have to have an artist's soul to live in the little town of Sutton -- population about 1,000 -- but you certainly would fit right in if you do.

The town supports Landmark Studio for the Arts, housed in a converted church, and smaller productions and art displays in La Dolce Vita Café and Gallery just across the street.

The Landmark Players produce an ambitious schedule of nearly monthly productions. Since August, they're presented "Art," "An Evening of One-Acts," "Master Class," "Gifts of the Magi," "The River," "The Fabric of Women's Lives" and "Our Lady of the Tortilla." They'll perform "You Can't Take It With You" July 17, 18, 24 and 25.

At La Dolce Vita, local art rims the room. It is for sale, along with the items on the menu. Former Sutton Mayor Jim Walker, who owns the café with his wife, Kathy, and partner Troy Bowgren, plays the piano on the small stage in the middle of the room on Wednesday evenings. Rock, contemporary, acoustic, country and independent performers take the stage regularly.

"I would say this is a pretty artsy area," Jim Walker said. "Many of the artists around here came here in the 1970s. They were people looking for land."

La Dolce Vita (the Italian words mean "the sweet life") opened in August 2007 in the former location of Café Cimino, Tim and Melody Urbanic's gourmet restaurant that moved down the street into a historic mansion and now serves the couple's 10-bedroom inn.

La Dolce Vita is on the first floor of the restored Lee Hardware store. The building was recently purchased by Bob Pirrung and out-of-town potter and bead maker Tamara Cicogna, who plan to convert the upper floors to apartments, classrooms and a studio, Kathy Walker said.

"The arts have played a significant role in the revitalization of Sutton," Jim Walker said. "As former mayor, I fought the battle of the town deteriorating economically. The one thing Sutton has had going it for it consistently has been its art."

Landmark Studio board President Kathy Walker and Jim moved to Sutton in 1978. Their story is similar to that of another board member, Olga Gioulis, who came to Braxton County in 1975 with now ex-husband and sculptor Bill Hopen.

"Growing up in New York, I was exposed to lots of museums. The arts have always been part of my life, and I wanted it to continue here," Gioulis said.

In 1988, Gioulis and Hopen purchased the 100-seat church, which was built in 1896, to convert it to a community arts center. In 2002, the Landmark board bought the building and runs it today. During the day, light shines through the original 20-foot-tall stained-glass windows. Heavy, dark curtains shroud them during performances. Cushions sit on the oak pews for the comfort of patrons.

SUTTON, W.Va. -- You don't have to have an artist's soul to live in the little town of Sutton -- population about 1,000 -- but you certainly would fit right in if you do.

The town supports Landmark Studio for the Arts, housed in a converted church, and smaller productions and art displays in La Dolce Vita Café and Gallery just across the street.

The Landmark Players produce an ambitious schedule of nearly monthly productions. Since August, they're presented "Art," "An Evening of One-Acts," "Master Class," "Gifts of the Magi," "The River," "The Fabric of Women's Lives" and "Our Lady of the Tortilla." They'll perform "You Can't Take It With You" July 17, 18, 24 and 25.

At La Dolce Vita, local art rims the room. It is for sale, along with the items on the menu. Former Sutton Mayor Jim Walker, who owns the café with his wife, Kathy, and partner Troy Bowgren, plays the piano on the small stage in the middle of the room on Wednesday evenings. Rock, contemporary, acoustic, country and independent performers take the stage regularly.

"I would say this is a pretty artsy area," Jim Walker said. "Many of the artists around here came here in the 1970s. They were people looking for land."

La Dolce Vita (the Italian words mean "the sweet life") opened in August 2007 in the former location of Café Cimino, Tim and Melody Urbanic's gourmet restaurant that moved down the street into a historic mansion and now serves the couple's 10-bedroom inn.

La Dolce Vita is on the first floor of the restored Lee Hardware store. The building was recently purchased by Bob Pirrung and out-of-town potter and bead maker Tamara Cicogna, who plan to convert the upper floors to apartments, classrooms and a studio, Kathy Walker said.

"The arts have played a significant role in the revitalization of Sutton," Jim Walker said. "As former mayor, I fought the battle of the town deteriorating economically. The one thing Sutton has had going it for it consistently has been its art."

Landmark Studio board President Kathy Walker and Jim moved to Sutton in 1978. Their story is similar to that of another board member, Olga Gioulis, who came to Braxton County in 1975 with now ex-husband and sculptor Bill Hopen.

"Growing up in New York, I was exposed to lots of museums. The arts have always been part of my life, and I wanted it to continue here," Gioulis said.

In 1988, Gioulis and Hopen purchased the 100-seat church, which was built in 1896, to convert it to a community arts center. In 2002, the Landmark board bought the building and runs it today. During the day, light shines through the original 20-foot-tall stained-glass windows. Heavy, dark curtains shroud them during performances. Cushions sit on the oak pews for the comfort of patrons.

An ongoing flurry of grants and fundraising events have produced the funds to install a new roof, add air conditioning and update the heating system, install a new floor in the entrance, and update two dressing rooms.

Awards crowd the space above the Landmark's kitchen cabinets. In the past, theatrical groups from the Landmark have traveled to competitions in Atlanta and Miami, where they earned the trophies.

The kitchen gets a workout during the Landmark's frequent fundraising events. Urbanic has prepared and served meals for dinner-theater productions. Events include wine-and-cheese receptions and a "Taste of the Landmark" event featuring desserts and appetizers prepared by local cooks and chefs.

Gioulis, the Walkers and others serve on the Community Arts Council. "We formed a council to develop the town as an arts destination. We visited other communities, such as Abington and Blacksburg in Virginia and Lewisburg and Clarksburg to see what they had done," she said. Their proposal included the creation of banners with a logo to brand Sutton as a town where the arts matter. The banners hang along Sutton's streets.

An alumni wall in the entry features photographs of former actors and actresses in the Youth Theater Project who are performing in New York and smaller venues. Many of them got their theatrical start at Braxton County High School, where Jim Walker formerly taught drama and theater. Today he is Landmark's artistic director.

Landmark productions usually run for two weekends and the house is typically full. "We have a number of faithful people in our audiences who come from Charleston, Glenville, Weston, Morgantown, Buckhannon and Webster County," she said. "And, of course, we have the locals."

Across the street from the church-turned-theater, La Dolce Vita Café features traditional and modern visual arts in the form of locally produced paintings, photography, pottery, sculpture, candles, jewelry, purses, hats and art dolls. The closure of Poplar Forest, a store in the Flatwoods Outlet Mall that carried the work of local artists, prompted Jim Walker to coax the artists to display their work at the café.

"We wanted a place for lunch and an art venue," he said. "This is the perfect space for that." They also host the occasional dinner theater and are open for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. They stay open later on Saturday, when the menu centers on a different ethnic food each week. So far, they've had Brazilian, Greek, Italian and Mexican, among others.

Although they own La Dolce Vita, the Walkers encourage theater patrons to dine down the street in the elegant Café Cimino, well-known for its southern Italian and Mediterranean cuisine, or in nearby Gassaway at the Red Rooster Café with Friday-night seafood and Saturday-night prime-rib specials.

"We all know each other very well. I dine at both places," Kathy Walker said. "Some of the owners have been in our plays."

Contact Landmark Studio and La Dolce Vita at 304-765-3334; Café Cimino Country Inn at 877-924-6466; and Red Rooster Café at 304-364-6023.

Reach Julie Robinson at jul...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1230.