Ryan and Jacque Scheer are taking over The Standard Gallery and Wine Bar at the end of the month, and while the name will change to the Westerly, the couple is committed to keeping the gallery’s vision of offering great art and libations intact.

“We never considered ourselves a bar, and we didn’t want to be a bar with art,” former owner Dustin Posiak-Trider said. “We wanted to be a gallery with some really nice drinks available … a place for people to go and have a nice drink and conversation.”

Ryan, a fine art photographer whose work is featured in the gallery, and Jacque, who has a background interior design and art history, feel like The Standard, which is at 907 Lincoln Ave., is a promising business that blends fine art with great cocktails.

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“It’s really important for us,” Ryan said of carrying on his friend’s vision. “We want people to come enjoy the space and soak up the art. Even if you can’t afford to buy the art, you can still enjoy it. That’s important to us.”

It also gives Ryan, a 2002 graduated of Steamboat Springs High School, a chance to return home and build on his career as a photographer. For Jacque, who went to high school in Houston and graduated from the University of Colorado, it’s a chance to tap into her own artistic interests.

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Posiak-Trider said The Standard has taken off since opening in December 2020. He said sales tripled between 2020 and 2021, but keeping up with the demands of running a gallery that represents 30 artists can be overwhelming — especially since he and his wife, Laura, welcomed a new member to their family seven months ago.

“There’s just a lot of moving parts, and then you add a bar into this space that is its own business, and it was just too much,” Posiak-Trider said. “Jacque and Ryan came in and they were like, ‘Hey, we would be interested in maybe taking the reins,’ … it was just a very natural, organic conversation. He’s an artist that I represented, and Jacque is an awesome designer. There are areas of the business that they can cultivate and develop that I just couldn’t.”

Posiak-Trider also wants to offer a helping hand to his wife, Laura, who owns and operates the Meatbar — another thriving business just down the street at 1009 Lincoln Ave. The Scheers said they will continue to partner with the Meatbar, and because of their friendships with Posiak-Trider, they want to continue what started at The Standard.

“We understand that it’s his baby and he’s handing it off to us,” Jacque said. “He’s done a fantastic job creating his vision, starting it and getting it off the ground and making it a successful business.”

Now it’s the Scheers’ turn to keep that vision alive while taking it to a new level.

They plan to close the Standard to make improvements to the building including updating a wall so they can more easily hang art and adding some areas for lounges where people can sit back and enjoy a drink in a social setting while taking in the artwork on the walls. Plan are to get a system in place so the bar runs efficiently.

The Scheers plan to hold a ‘goodbye party’ for Posiak-Trider on Wednesday, May 31, before closing the doors of the Standard Galley on Thursday, June 1. The business will reopen as the Westerly in mid-June with a grand opening planned for around the Fourth of July.

The Scheers said the Westerly will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

“It will be the same concept that that he had before with great cocktails,” Jacque said. “We’ll have a day menu of drinks for people that are in and out, and then more sophisticated cocktails at nighttime.”