Newbill Collection by the Sea

Newbill Collection by the Sea has anchored a ground floor gallery space in Seaside’s Ruskin Place Artist Colony for more than 26 years, making it one of the longest running galleries in a town that reshuffles its shop roster fairly often. The gallery focuses on contemporary American art and fine craft, and its own description claims the best selection of handcrafted jewelry on the Gulf Coast, a claim that’s easy to believe once you’ve browsed the cases of one of a kind pieces inside. That kind of longevity is rare in a resort town where retail turnover tends to be high, and it speaks to a loyal base of collectors who return to Newbill on repeat trips to 30A.

Inside, the collection runs wider than jewelry alone. Newbill shows original paintings and photography alongside folk art and garden sculpture, giving the gallery a range that covers everything from small, wearable pieces to statement art meant for a home’s front porch or garden bed. That mix makes it a natural stop for visitors hunting for a serious art purchase as well as those looking for something smaller and more portable, a handmade necklace or a pair of earrings that doubles as a lasting souvenir of a trip to 30A. The jewelry cases in particular draw a steady stream of browsers, since the handcrafted pieces change often enough that a visit a year apart can turn up an entirely different selection.

The gallery’s setting is as much a part of the experience as its inventory. Ruskin Place was built as part of Seaside’s original master plan by town founders Robert and Daryl Davis, conceived as a live and work artist colony where craftspeople could keep a studio on the ground floor and live upstairs. Bill and Mary Florence Forsythe became the first family to build there in 1987, inspired by an article they had read in House Beautiful magazine; Mary Florence, a sculptor, wanted exactly the kind of ground floor studio space Ruskin Place was designed around. Architect Walter Chatham designed their home, and the neighborhood grew into twenty distinct three story townhouses, each one different by design, since, as the town’s own history puts it, no cookie cutter tract homes were allowed. That same spirit of individuality, no two townhouses alike, carries over into the galleries themselves, each one curated with a distinct point of view rather than a shared house style.

That founding vision, a genuine workshop district rather than a strip of identical storefronts, is still visible in the small cluster of galleries sharing the colony with Newbill today, including Albert F’s, An Apartment in Paris, Big Mama’s Hula Girl Gallery, Red Bird Gallery, and Ruskin.Studio. The colony’s central green space, tucked between the Seaside Chapel and Central Square, doubles as a park for weddings and receptions, and its brick walkways and benches make Ruskin Place one of the more peaceful pockets of a town that can get crowded in peak season.

Newbill Collection by the Sea sits at 309 W Ruskin Place in Santa Rosa Beach and can be reached at (850) 231 4500. It’s an easy add to a walk through Seaside’s center, just steps from the chapel and the amphitheater, and after more than a quarter century in the same spot, it remains one of the more reliable places on 30A to find serious, handmade art and jewelry rather than mass produced beach decor. Visitors who make a habit of walking through Ruskin Place on every trip to Seaside often say the gallery’s inventory is different enough each time to be worth the repeat stop.