This time of the year — late spring and early summer — always make me feel slightly wistful and sad.
I recognize that part of that sadness comes from the fact that June was the month in which we closed both of our brick and mortar galleries (many years apart) and decided that it was time to say goodbye to those businesses.
At Least We Tried!
My first gallery — located in a swank part of Austin, Texas — opened its doors in October of 1985 and finally ended up closing after a number of reinventions in June of 1999. Our Gallery here in Port Townsend which we acquired as an ongoing concern, ended up closing at the end of June in 2019.
On each occasion, we had a whole plethora of reasons and rationalizations for why it wasn't working... but the real bottom line (that we didn't really look directly at) remained the fact that people simply didn't buy enough art to support the staff and other overhead of having a brick and mortar art gallery.
The Art is Prettier Than the Business...
The art business is actually a surprisingly brutal field at least from the perspective of trying to survive. Very few people consider art to be a necessity in any way shape or form, and for most people art represents a luxury that they have a hundred reasons not to buy and perhaps only one reason to buy.
That basically means you're sailing upstream against the current, pretty much all the time.
It may sound somewhat romantic and idealistic to say that "you have an art gallery" and it is helping struggling artists and creatives make a life for themselves but there's very little romance and idealism left once you've been involved for a while and you realize that every single penny you take in is hard earned and has to be fought for.
I guess popular opinion that that money is more wisely spent on putting gas in your car or investing in stocks and bonds, or even on a nice dinner. Don't ever let anybody tell you that you're going to get rich by being in the art business!
But There Are Still Fond Memories!
The above is not to say that we don't have positive memories from our years in the art business. In fact there are plenty of those as well!
But perhaps the hardest challenge to face on a daily basis is the fact that everybody around you tells you that you're "doing a great job," and that your premises and exhibition are wonderful, but almost nobody actually puts their money where their mouth is... so you end up sitting there, wondering what you're doing wrong even though your surroundings assures you that you're doing something right.
Ironically, much the same thing can be said of the experience of being an artist — which I also am — where all your friends and connections evidently think you're doing a fabulous job but nobody actually has any intention of spending money on what you're doing.
Alas, "kind words and encouragement" don't pay the bills!
Thanks for stopping by! Feel free to leave a comment, if you feel so inclined!
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