Selling art in an economic downturn is tough business, even in a town that many once called a “City of the Arts.”

The past year has been a mixed bag for Lawrence galleries and shops that feature handcrafted items.

Marian O'Dwyer, owner of the Phoenix Gallery, 919 Mass., arranges a display of hand-blown glass by artist Ron Mynatt of Springdale, Ark.

Borderline, a home-furnishings shop at 846 Pa., closed in January, less than a year after it relocated from Massachusetts Street.

Another store, Vormehr & Youngquist Gallery, vacated its retail spot at 914 Mass. in favor of a warehouse at 2859 Four Wheel Drive.

“We make more money at art shows it’s silly to have expensive retail space downtown,” said Vicki Vormehr, co-owner. “There’s just a lot more profit for us if we don’t have to pay rent and KPL.”

Other stores didn’t notice any effect from the economic downturn.

At the Phoenix Gallery, 919 Mass., owner Marian O’Dwyer said that after Sept. 11, she found that customers were even more supportive of the gallery, despite the country’s economic hardship.

The Phoenix Gallery features regional fine crafts such as ceramics, blown glass, jewelry and textiles.

“I may be an aberration in that sense, but it seems there’s that sense of rallying around and buying things that are locally or regionally made,” she said. “Financially we haven’t gone up or down.”

O’Dwyer said the Phoenix Gallery’s staying power it’s been in Lawrence for 12 years also made a difference.

“People drive four hours out of their way to shop at the gallery,” she said. “There aren’t many galleries like ours. We have a lot of people come from all over the country.”

Vormehr and Youngquist Gallery moved this spring after its owners found they sold the majority of their work outside of town.

Co-owner Vicki Vormehr said that at a 10-day stint in Deadwood, S.D., during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, they earned about one-third of what they usually made in a year.

They sold jewelry, paintings, prints and T-shirts.

“We went up there just to kind of check it out,” Vormehr said. “That’s our best show we’ve ever done.”

Kelvin Schartz, owner of Back to the Garden, 619 N. Second St., said his business had increased during the past year.

“I think people have got more of a sense of value, more of something that is handmade rather than something at Wal-Mart,” he said.

The store sells items for outdoor decoration.

“It’s certainly not fine art at all,” Schartz said. “It’s fine craft, and there’s very little two-dimensional work here. That’s kind of how we’re different.”

Schartz said he thought Lawrence still had some work to do to truly be called a City of the Arts.

“I’m not convinced that it lives up to its name,” he said. “It is in some ways, but as far as art galleries go, I don’t see many art galleries in town.”