Brandy Wight spearheaded Granary Gallery

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Barry and Judy Lutender, Brandon "Brandy" Wight, Bruce Blackwell, Jean Hewett, Sydell Rabin. —Lynn Christoffers

Brandon (Brandy) Wight, cofounder of the Granary Gallery and West Tisbury’s first recognized centenarian, died Feb. 26 at his home in Florida. He had grown up coming summers to the Vineyard, and moved to the Island to his family home in West Tisbury in the 1950s.

He had celebrated his 100th birthday at the gallery in August 2015, surrounded by friends and his husband, Bruce Blackwell. MV Times columnist and artist Hermine Hull wrote at the time: “Brandon Wight had grown up here summers in the old Cook house on Music Street in West Tisbury. He began a business, the Flea Market, in Edgartown in 1954 with his partner, George Bigelow. They moved to Main Street, Vineyard Haven, in 1960, hoping for a more year-round location. The Vineyard Haven incarnation of the Flea Market afforded the space to carry more art — Brandy’s love — as well as the antiques they were known for. Sadly, George died in 1964.”

Brandy met Bruce Blackwell at the Ocean View in 1966. Bruce left VCS to join Brandy at the Flea Market; in 1977 they found a barn in West Tisbury. And it was truly a barn; it had housed animals before becoming a tack shop and ladies’ clothing store. They renamed the business the Red Barn, and began exhibiting artists in the Granary Gallery. “With longtime Island connections, welcoming personalities, and lots of space for both art and antiques, they were a success,” Hermine wrote in 2015.

Chris Morse came to work for them in 1987 in a summer job that gradually afforded more responsibility. In 1996, Chris bought the gallery, which is still a well-known West Tisbury attraction.