Art Is Alive at 3ten Studios

For sisters Sherry Christopher and Lori Dever, art is always in motion.

It’s something you make, talk about, question and experience. It’s the reason people linger. It can spark a conversation between strangers—or send two sisters to brunch, where a Bloody Mary and a little “what-if” thinking turned a longtime dream into 3ten Studios in Cambridge, Maryland.

“What do we have to lose?” Sherry recalls of the conversation that started it all. “Let’s just do a gallery where we can make our own art.”

That was in 2023. Today, 3ten Studios is a working gallery in downtown Cambridge where the sisters paint in the space, host themed exhibitions, welcome guest artists, teach classes and regularly transform the walls with new works.

“It turned into a pretty cool atmosphere for the community where people are coming in and thanking us because there’s nothing else like it here,” Lori says.

Most importantly, 3ten gives Sherry and Lori the freedom to create whatever moves them. “We started to do themes that would interest us, and we both paint anything,” Lori says. “If you come into the gallery, it looks like there are 25 different artists in here.”

But there are just two. And this creative range is exactly the point.

Made to Create

Long before 3ten had walls of its own, the sisters were creating together. They grew up in Baltimore in a family where making things was part of everyday life. Their mother, Jeraldine, crocheted and painted. Their father, Paul, a Baltimore City police officer, would sit with his daughters at the dining room table and draw. Handmade gifts often arrived from their grandmother. And one particularly memorable Christmas brought a Crayola caddy that helped cement the sisters’ fascination with making art.

Both pursued art beyond those early years. Lori studied at Columbus College of Art and Design, while Sherry developed her work through art classes and largely self-directed study. Over the years, both exhibited in galleries and shows, but the idea of opening a place of their own persisted.

Even the gallery’s name circles back to the family that encouraged them. Their father’s police badge number was 310. “It was always a significant number in our family,” Sherry says.

Naming the gallery 3ten was a tribute to their parents, who gave the sisters such a creative foundation.

Lori and Sherry are close. “We’re best friends,” Lori says, with Sherry laughing, “We want to strangle each other sometimes, but that’s normal.”

Artistically and professionally, however, their differences work in their favor. Sherry has taught herself the digital and technical side of the business; she built the gallery’s website. Lori brings a retail background and an eye for merchandising, price points and what appeals to visitors.

“Sherry is the yin to my yang,” Lori says.

Their artwork is equally individual. Covering 3ten’s walls are floral and nude paintings, whimsical and abstract works, pop-culture-inspired pieces, large-scale canvases and art that draws from memory, emotion and observation.

Lori has also created painted skateboards and works influenced by artists including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol, mixing those references with contemporary social media culture. Sherry’s abstract florals have developed their own following.

Some canvases stretch four or five feet. Others are translated into accessible pieces such as prints, stickers and candles featuring original artwork.

“Everything is 100 percent original,” Lori says.

And there is always more coming. “We’re very prolific in production,” Sherry says. “We’re always creating.”