About Us & Our Business

Heritage Gallery is a family run business that started in 1993. The Zimmerman’s both grew up on farms, they love nature and all of God’s creation. Marian’s gift and love for designing and painting plus Lester’s determination to sell only outdoor plaques that truly hold up in rain and direct sunlight are the strength of the business.

In the early years we sold hand painted slate with different birds for a local lawn & garden store to sell. The most discouraging thing was when people commented to us that the slate tended to yellow and eventually the paint peeled off. We decided that if we cannot make something that will last outdoors we would quit. After some research we switched to an expensive industrial grade clear-coat with UV protection. It worked! Now they were beautiful and lasted outdoors for years. People liked them so well we started taking them to craft shows, and from there the demand grew and grew and more shop owners asked to buy wholesale. We have sold them all across the United States and Abroad.

In 2010 we purchased two UV Jet grand format printers and began to digitally print our original designs directly onto the slate which enabled us to put much more detail in an original piece of art and then digitally reproduce it.

As our business grew we began to have great difficulty obtaining enough quality slate to fill our orders. As someone has said “misery is the mother of invention” and in looking for a better and less stressful way to continue producing quality outdoor plaques we were introduced to a composite panel that featured double-sided painted aluminum panels bonded to a solid ¼”polyethylene core, making them ridged yet lightweight. It was a perfect fit for us.

Our observations over the years have been that most of our customers purchase and enjoy our plaques for these two primary reasons:

  1. The beautiful artistic original designs.
  2. The fact that they are a high quality made in the USA product that holds up outdoors in direct sunlight and rain for many years.

About The Artist - Marian Zimmerman

Marian Zimmerman always enjoyed drawing as a young child and started by painting ceramics. Thirty years ago a friend called and asked her to take an oil painting class.

Today Marian paints with oils, watercolor, and acrylic paints and always enjoys drawing and sketching. She also enjoys going on location and trying to capture the natural lighting. She took classes at Creative Arts, studied with Wildlife Artist Fred Wetzel and National Watercolor Artist Larry Lombardo. The art studio is in the basement of her home. Marian and her husband Lester have 1 daughter, 2 sons and 8 grandchildren who are the apple of her eye.

About The Artist - Marian Zimmerman

Marian Zimmerman always enjoyed drawing as a young child and started by painting ceramics. Thirty years ago a friend called and asked her to take an oil painting class.

Today Marian paints with oils, watercolor, and acrylic paints and always enjoys drawing and sketching. She also enjoys going on location and trying to capture the natural lighting. She took classes at Creative Arts, studied with Wildlife Artist Fred Wetzel and National Watercolor Artist Larry Lombardo. The art studio is in the basement of her home. Marian and her husband Lester have 1 daughter, 2 sons and 8 grandchildren who are the apple of her eye.

About The Artist - Lester Zimmerman

A mechanic at heart, But precisely runs our high format printer and sprays the lovely durable clear coating on our plaques. He Loves a high-quality product. His Father taught him if they tell you to dig 10” you dig it 12” you want to do it once and make it last.

He enjoys softball games, hunting & church life. Husband to Marian they have 3 children and 9 grandchildren.

About The Artist - Lydia Jo Martin

Took art lessons from her Mother, Marian and Fred Wetzel, her delight is impressionistic oil painting with vibrant colors. She is also a photographer enjoys shooting weddings and senior portraits. Helps with most of our Photoshop work for Heritage Gallery.

She loves being a Mom taking care of 5 children 3 girls and 2 boys, writes a blog about family life, her husband has Evergreen Electric.

About The Artist - Lydia Jo Martin

Took art lessons from her Mother, Marian and Fred Wetzel, her delight is impressionistic oil painting with vibrant colors. She is also a photographer enjoys shooting weddings and senior portraits. Helps with most of our Photoshop work for Heritage Gallery.

She loves being a Mom taking care of 5 children 3 girls and 2 boys, writes a blog about family life, her husband has Evergreen Electric.

About The Artist - Rebecca Fox

Took art lessons as a young girl from Marian and never stopped painting and learning she just enjoys a brush in her hand. Loves impressionistic oils and watercolors. She teaches art at her local Mennonite High School. She has an amazing eye for color and texture, and can easily find four leaf clovers.

Find her canvases on her ETSY site Rebecca Fox

She has 4 children, 2 boys, and 2 girls, her husband is an administrator for their Mennonite High School.