Ministry to Offer Healing Art Retreats in Wood River

WOOD RIVER - A local ministry has partnered with a Wood River art gallery to expand its offerings.

A Place of Grace, which operates as a combined small business and ministry, will collaborate with Von Dell Gallery and Studios to offer spiritual pastoral care, Reiki, one-on-one coaching, and art therapy. A Place of Grace founder, Pastor Julie Gvillo, clarified that she is not a therapist, but she has over 20 years of experience in pastoral care and wants to help people work through their challenges and connect to God via art.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for people, churched and unchurched alike, to connect with God and build relationships with God and with one another through different entry points in whatever way they feel most comfortable,” she explained. “I want people to have time to breathe, relax, let go of the stresses of the day, and really engage with scripture and art.”

Gvillo’s art retreats will start in February, but she and Von Dell Gallery owner Gary Conrad have planned an art exhibit from 6–9 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, to introduce people to the space and show some of Gvillo’s own work.

She explained that her retreats will run every Tuesday for seven weeks at a time, starting on Feb. 3, 2026. A Place of Grace is offering-based, so people are invited to give what they can. The art retreats will take people through artistic projects and spiritual connections.

On the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, Gvillo plans to offer “artful expressions of grief,” an art retreat focused on healing from loss. This will be followed by one-on-one appointments on Thursdays, where she will offer pastoral care.

A Place of Grace also works with different organizations in the community, including Community Hope Center and Riverbend Family Ministries. Through all of this work, Gvillo hopes to give back to people who need love and healing. Conrad is also focused on helping others, which made for a natural partnership between Von Dell Gallery and A Place of Grace.

“Together, we’re hoping that we can be literally a place of grace for people who are recovering, working through grief, who are looking for ways to express frustration or hurt or loneliness and find community, but also find a way to connect with God in a way that kind of fills that hole instead whatever burden they’re carrying,” Gvillo said.

More information will be shared in the coming months, including at the art exhibit on Dec. 30. Gvillo hopes many people come out to learn more about A Place of Grace and Von Dell Gallery and Studios. She emphasized that the goal is to bring people together and help them connect to God, whatever that looks like for you.

“There is something literally for everybody that wants to connect with God in any way,” she said. “Everyone, literally everyone, is welcome. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter who you love. It doesn’t matter how you show up in this world. There’s no judgment. This is a place of grace.”

For more information about the Dec. 30, 2025, art exhibit and studio opening, visit the official Facebook event page. To learn more about A Place of Grace, check out their official Facebook page. Read more about Von Dell Gallery and Studios at their official website.

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