Meet the Team
Harriet Runkle, Owner
Harriet Runkle has owned Frame Gallery Custom Frames and Art since January 2018. Frame Gallery is a full-service custom frame shop and an art gallery that showcases work by local and regional artists and unique one-of-a-kind gifts from around the world. Frame Gallery sells Sewanee art that includes Bob Short lithographs and posters, Abbo's Alley Maps, Sewanee Tiger Heads, and Will Winton's watercolors of local vistas and buildings on the University's campus, among others.
Harriet and her husband, John Runkle, represent Christian icon writer, Sr. Eliseea Papacioc, a Romanian Orthodox nun whose sole income is from the sales and commissions of her icons. The icons are currently on display in the Gallery. Frame Gallery also hosts receptions for artists throughout the year that are open to the public.
In collaboration with the Community Action Center (CAC), Frame Gallery manages the program "Art is Food for the Soul" by providing matted artwork to the CAC to offer to their clients. The program supports Frame Gallery's mission of making art accessible to all.
Harriet received her B.A. in Art History and Museum Studies with a concentration in gallery Management from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1983. After working in various galleries and museums, Harriet received her Masters of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) from Mary Baldwin College in 1994, taught elementary school, and held administrative positions in education for over 20 years before returning to the art world.
Harriet currently serves on the board of the Sewanee Business Alliance, whose mission is to support business growth and development, as well as local efforts to help our neighbors, and to help create a welcoming and caring community.
John Runkle
The One and Only Frame Guy
As a historical architect and an Episcopal priest, Rev. John Ander Runkle, RA has brought his many gifts and talents to Frame Gallery since its inception in 2018. He worked with Harriet to redesign the interior space to accommodate the design studio, framing production area and gallery space, all contained within 600 square feet!
In 2023, he was instrumental in the expansion of Frame Gallery as it exists today with an additional 1,200 square feet. Frame Gallery now has an office and storage space, a more spacious production area and an area for art instruction. While not an official employee, he has been an incredible supporter of Frame Gallery and the quintessential Frame Guy.
John is the Principal of John Runkle Architects, PLLC, a firm specializing in historic structures with a focus on churches and memorials. John also is the Vicar of St. James Episcopal Church in Sewanee, TN.
As an Episcopal priest, he has served a number of parishes throughout the mid-Atlantic area since being ordained in 1999. As an historical architect, his career represents a devotion to the care and interpretation of architectural and cultural landmarks.
From serving as an architect on staff with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, to surveying archaeological sites of medieval Islamic settlements in the Sahara Desert of North Africa, to preserving, restoring and revitalizing historic worship space in the Anglican tradition, his architectural experience spans over thirty years.
He consults with numerous churches, chapels and dioceses in the care of their buildings, including the Episcopal Church Center, who retained him as the Consulting Project Manager guiding the efforts to reconstruct Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, that was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake.
From 2005 to 2010, he served as the Cathedral Conservator at Washington National Cathedral, where he was responsible for the care of the Cathedral’s building fabric, along with managing its fine arts collections.
John’s book, Searching for Sacred Space: Essays on Architecture and Liturgical Design in the Episcopal Church, is a collection of thought-provoking essays that focus on liturgical space and its proper support of common worship. He regularly speaks at conferences and retreats on the theology of sacred space and history of religious architecture, as well as teaches at several seminaries.
Rea Ching Mingeva
I am everchanging.
A Note From Harriet
Rea Mingeva was instrumental in getting Frame Gallery off the ground in 2018 and came to work for me a week after I opened the shop. She helped make Frame Gallery what it is today. Her devotion to detail, passion for all kinds of art, and her boundless energy and love made it a joy to work with her. I called her a magician because she could literally make our customers’ and my framing ideas come to life. Sewanee has lost a gifted and talented artist, a master framer, and a beautiful soul. I miss her hilarious sense of humor, unconditional love, and undying enthusiasm for Frame Gallery. I feel so fortunate to have had her in my life. She was my soul sister, confidante, and best cheerleader. Rest well, Frame Gal.
Rea Mingeva’s interest and talent in art started early when she and her two siblings were allowed to color and paint on the concrete basement walls in her family home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (No coloring books allowed!) Her favorite class in school was art class where she found refuge from the other classes that didn’t allow her to daydream and draw, which, she said, “is all I ever wanted to do.”
After completing high school, Rea received her BFA in painting from the University of Minnesota and went on to complete her MFA in painting at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She became a beloved professor of painting and drawing at Minnesota State University and taught there for 16 years before retiring to become a full-time artist, specializing in portraiture.
She and her husband, Tom Moore, an artist who grew up here in Sewanee, moved back to the area in 2008 and had their artists’ studios in their home. In addition to her profession as an artist, Rea was a master framer and did specialty work for us at Frame Gallery. She also taught painting and drawing classes here at the shop.
When Rea was discovering herself as an artist and as a person who embraced and loved change, she decided to change her name to capture her essence. Rea Ching Mingeva is an anagram from the statement, I am everchanging. Rea said, “Change and life experience are the strength of my life.”
Photos of and Art by Rea
Connie Keetle
Connie joined Frame Gallery in May 2021 as a Production Assistant. Connie received her B.F.A. from Kansas City Art Institute. Primarily, she grew up in Vermont, enjoying countless hours of freedom exploring and loving the land around her. The close bonds of nature forged in her youth have inspired her passions in art and life.
Connie moved to Sewanee more than nine years ago with her husband Stephen and her daughter and son. Connie has exhibited her work in galleries in Vermont and Virginia as well as Sterling’s, Mooney’s, The Lemon Fair and Frame Gallery in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Diane Jones
Since joining our team in March 2024, Diane Jones has been applying her lettering and design expertise to enhance Frame Gallery’s offerings. Her contributions include creating signage for shop displays, organizing frame samples, and managing inventory, all of which help maintain the gallery space impeccably. Thanks to Diane’s involvement, Frame Gallery now offers advanced matting techniques like French matting, which brings added elegance and style to our framing projects.
As an artist, Diane Jones has loved writing since the 3rd grade, when she would forgo recess to practice cursive handwriting in the classroom. She went on to receive her BFA with an emphasis on graphic design from Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX.
Diane also studied calligraphy and bookmaking under Carol Patterson at the San Antonio Art Institute and has participated in lettering and gilding workshops from calligraphy masters Sheila Waters, Julian Waters, Sherri Kiesel, Peter Thornton, and Marsha Brady. She studied Spencerian Script, illumination, and engrossing under Michael Sull at the International Association of Master Penmen and Engrossers (IAMPETH).
Among numerous projects and commissions, Diane has completed resolutions and certificates for universities, including the University of the South, a testimonial for King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain, and dozens of wedding invitations for brides all over the South.
Diane also enjoys painting watercolors of botanicals and animals. Primary media used in the creation of her calligraphic pieces are gouache, watercolor and ink on paper.
Our University of the South Students
Frame Gallery is very proud to employ students from The University of the South in Sewanee at the Frame Gallery. Meet our great team!
Abigail Long
Abigail Long (Class of ’26) is a rising junior here at Sewanee. Her hometown is Pensacola, Florida, and she currently lives in Roanoke, Virginia. She is considering American Studies and Southern Appalachian History as her majors. Abigail enjoys being outside, being with friends, playing her guitar, and anything creative. When asked why she likes working at the Frame Gallery, she says,
“I love being a Frame Gal because it allows me to connect with the other parts of Sewanee outside of the University. I get to learn more about art and the artists that live here.”
Abigail started working at Frame Gallery in August 2022. Her main responsibilities are working with the “Art is Food for the Soul” service project that donates ready-to-hang art for the Community Action Center, which is the local food bank.
Legacy University of the South Student Staff
Contact Us
We’ll work with you to prepare a custom frame design within your budget that meets your goals for preserving a treasured piece of art!
Or, you can visit and find unique, fairly traded gifts for your favorite person made by artists from around the world.