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The theme of The Bakery Gallery is “where everything is art,” as its name conveys, and Yerington’s local purveyor of sweets aims to provide much more than its specialty cookies, coffees and cakes. Owner and pastry chef Mary Kropelnicki’s idea is to bring more awareness about the arts “one cookie at a time,” because, as she says, “Who are we if we don’t have the arts? In America, the arts belong to everyone.”

Kropelnicki and her husband, Gary Gray, opened The Bakery Gallery on Goldfield Avenue in April 2013 upon purchasing the building where it’s located. After hand-painting murals of the surrounding countryside on the bakery walls, Kropelnicki immediately arranged to put the works of artists, including painters and photographers, on their product labels to promote the arts in the local community. Additionally, they promote American history through digitally mastered vintage professional baseball photos turned into labels as well, having purchased the old photo negatives at an auction. Kropelnicki is also preparing to create some classic car labels requested by local customers.

With a background in art and 37 years of baking professionally, Kropelnicki had another goal in mind when she and Gray set up shop in Yerington.

“Our objective was pretty easy — we wanted everything to taste homemade,” she explained. “We’ve lost that. We’ve gotten away from that really good homemade taste.”

In order to accomplish this task, Kropelnicki, a native of California who moved to Yerington 12 years ago, claimed she is “forever learning.” She learned from reading cookbooks as a kid, which is also when she began drawing. It wasn’t until college that she took a cake-decorating class, but she said she was “lousy at it.” Yet she was “bound and determined” to get it.

“I practiced a lot, and it took me a while, but I did get it. It all breaks down mathematically. I learned the formulas of both cooking and baking. Baking is more difficult than cooking,” said Kropelnicki, “It’s about ratio, and it is a skill.”

These days Kropelnicki would rather bake cookies than decorate cakes, and she bakes candies, pies, cupcakes, cheesecakes, muffins, eclairs, Danish and apple streusel, to name just a few confectioner’s delights available at The Bakery Gallery. Plus, in addition to specialty coffees (including iced in the summer months), customers can pick up and take home complete meals for two. Everything from chicken pot pies and soup to meatloaf, pasta and pizza.

One additional way the bakery supports the arts and the local community is through its Dream Boxes, which contain a 20-cookie assortment including macaroons. Two dollars from the sale of each Dream Box is donated to Through a Child’s Eyes Foundation of Yerington. Kropelnicki has long been active with the nonprofit foundation, painting sets and catering for its Academy of Dance Studio teas and other fundraiser events. Recently, The Bakery Gallery donated all of the boxed cookies to attendees of the “Nutcracker Ballet.” The Jeanne Dini Center’s Taste of the Valley by Yerington Theatre for the Arts is also supported by The Bakery Gallery.

After more than three years in business, Kropelnicki said that 60 percent of her customers are nonetheless out-of-towners, some looking for Starbucks-style specialty coffees, but many of whom bought her goods at farmers markets and craft fairs she attends almost weekly in other locales including California. At the 2016 Genoa Candy Dance, The Bakery Gallery sold 1,200 boxes of cookies in two days. And Kropelnicki claims people have shipped her boxed cookies as far off as China.

In their first year of business, Kropelnicki said they gave away pumpkin pies to local businesses. This year, they reached the 5,000 mark in early December for pies sold in the local community.

“We’ve learned that people just want a destination,” said Kropelnicki, adding that the focus on the arts allows folks to “connect to something bigger than themselves, which is something we need more of, not less of. Because it changes people’s lives.”

One upcoming change in store for the people of Yerington in spring/summer 2017 is Kropelnicki and Grays’ plans to expand their business, adding on a restaurant next door to their bakery. It will be called “The Garage,” with a 1950s automotive décor and theme, the idea being that “people will come for the fun, and stay for the food,” said Kropelnicki.

“This is a charming little town,” she said, “and people will come. We’re going to take food to another level.”