A
Decade of Art, Craft, and Friendship
The artist/owners of Gallery 54 can be excused if ten years
ago they didn't realize the impact of what they were setting out to
build. They were a dozen disparate Central New York artists without
much more in common than their desire for others to appreciate their
art enough to purchase it and make it part of their lives. A few
potters, painters, and jewelers; a fiber artist, a photographer and a
stained glass artist spent months looking for the right location for
their dream of a gallery to showcase their creativity to the
community.
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Painting by founder and first president of Gallery 54 – Kathleen Schneider |
On
September 6th,
First Friday for the Arts in Skaneateles, they are throwing a party
from 5 to 8 pm, to celebrate ten years of reaching for their dream.
While
only three of the original dozen founders remain as owners of the
artist-owned and operated gallery, they still strive to represent the
artists of the greater Central New York region. Touted by the Post
Standard newspaper in
2018 as one of the top “Indie gift shops” in Upstate New York,
several former founders and interim owners remain active artists with
the gallery.
The
original dozen artists have grown to the point that no one really
knows how many artists have called Gallery 54 home over the years,
according to one founder and potter Sallie Thompson. At any given
time, she notes, 40 to 50 Central New York artists exhibit and offer
for sale a broad range of work in virtually every discipline of the
arts. “It's come to the point that we regularly have artists from
outside of Central New York, seeking the opportunity that showcasing
their work in Gallery 54 represents. As a group, we carefully curate
each and every request, but few from outside our Central New York
community make the cut,” she adds.
Founder
and jeweler Donna Smith recalled recently that ten years ago the
original group of artists, behind the leadership of painter, Kathleen
Schneider was motivated to seek a venue to call home that was on the
main street of Skaneateles.”We really wanted a highly visible home
base where people could find our work and the heart of Skaneateles
was always our objective.”
|
A popular Skaneateles view by Photographer Tom Dwyer |
As
with any fledgling business, “There were new tricks to learn,”
Smith notes. “Simply put, we had to learn how to get things done.”
She notes that the founders' early decision to vote on all
significant decision sometimes slowed us down, yet at the same time
helped us move forward in a deliberate fashion. “Being artist-owned
and
operated was always
important to all of us,” she adds.
Stained
glass artist, Liz Micho, bolsters Smith's thinking when she focuses
on how serious the founders, and subsequent owners, have always been
about molding an ever-changing group of artists into a cohesive team
of business owners. Even a decade after those first days of business
in the summer of 2009, notes Micho, we work hard to understand what
our customers want and each artist personally works to provide it,”
she says.
The
need for everyone to be on the same page was evident right from the
start. “We didn't really expect as much interest in the gallery
right at the outset,” says Smith, “and therefore as much
business, as what materialized right from the day we first opened our
doors. None of us had ever run a business before. So we had to
quickly learn how to get things done and how to prioritize all these
things.”
“You
might not think that paying attention to 'getting things done' would
take so much effort,” notes Micho. As an example, she notes “We
started out hand-writing all our sales receipts. With a fast-growing
list of artists showcasing their work in the gallery, this quickly
became onerous, to say the least, and demanded that we upgrade
operations as quickly as possible with the installation of our
computerized Point of Sale system.”
“That
kind of business decision paled,” says Smith, “when compared to
learning how to make adjustments when artists leave the gallery.
We've had emotional changes, such as when founder and potter Lauren
Richie died unexpectedly while visiting family out of town, and
business-driven changes when we wanted to welcome an artist had to
leave.”
“We
have always been guided by the same objective,” says Thompson,
“Carefully curate a collection of fine art and craft, with emphasis
on work created by local artists.” Thompson credits this
philosophy, at least in part, for the gallery's emphasis on
supporting the local arts community with donations to various art
causes as well as by instituting “our very successful guest artist
program whereby we invite local established as well as up and coming
artists, to exhibit their work for a month or two at a time.” The
gallery also sponsors and hosts events like the juried Central
New York Photo Expo
that
saw photographers from throughout Central New York vying for cash
prizes as well as recognition.”
The
success of the guest artist program is evidenced by the growing list
of accomplished, respected and well-known artists who have accepted,
and often sought, the opportunity to exhibit at Gallery 54. Currently
painter, David Kiehm, a BBC wildlife artist of the year, and Roycroft
Artisan, porcelain pottery artist, Leslie Green Guilbault are
currently guest artists at the gallery. The list of notable guest
artists is long, however, including award-winning watercolor painter,
Bob Ripley; fiber artist and teacher, Sharon Bottle Souva; metal
sculptor, Jay Seamans, oil painter, Wendy Harris; potter, Tim See and
abstract painter and mentalist, Bob Lawson.
In
addition to wine and refreshments, the gallery's anniversary
celebrations will feature the opportunity to meet and interact with a
number of artists, all with the background music provided by the
popular guitarist and singer/songwriter Jane Zell.