About the Art Haus

The Opelika Art Haus, part of the Henry J. Stern Family Foundation, is dedicated in memory of Henry and Rosyln Stern, the parents of Art Haus founders Ginger and J. Stern. It was constructed in 2019 to bring more art and art-related events to the area.

Rosyln graduated from Auburn University and was the first art teacher in the Opelika School System. She was an extremely talented artist who shared that talent across many of the schools in Opelika. She founded the Opelika Arts Association and was a member of the Alabama State Arts Council. She continued spreading her love for the arts until she died in 2007.

Henry J. Stern made his way to America in 1937 at the young age of five by way of the SS Washington, the last boat leaving Germany during the Holocaust, and settled in Opelika just two blocks away from what is now the The Art Haus.

Architect, Behzad Nakhjavan, designed the entire complex including the unique staircase/fountain. Gamble Winter Construction handled the construction. The studios and gallery were both original Opelika homes. What is now known as the main gallery was once used as a church.

The studio phase consists of two buildings: an old garage with a studio space and a separate building with five studios. Each studio was named after a different school where Roslyn Stern taught art. They consist of Brown Elementary Studio, Carver Primary Studio, Jeter Primary Studio, Martin Elementary Studio, Pepperell Elementary Studio, and OJHS Studio.

The floors in the gallery space are repurposed from the original building (1910).The exposed trellises are also part of the original structure. Most of the floors and wooden ceilings in the Studios (1930), along with the four restored fireplaces, are also original to the building. The tin cladding of the fountain was reappropriated from the roof of the original homes that stood on the property and the bricks of the courtyard are recycled from the Historic Pepperell Mill.