Spent some time on Thursday out in dreamy Hamilton NY having my orientation session for the Broad Street Gallery, the streetfront operation of the Hamilton Center for the Arts and one of my gigs starting this fall. The gallery is a co-op function with the artists volunteering time to staff the gorgeous, bright, well lit and CLEAN gallery in exchange for wall space to show their artwork. Plus a chance to become involved with the classes offered by HCA, get some teaching experience and work at supporting their creative efforts.
Sales are steady thanks to the Colgate University scene, the artwork all impeccable, the artists themselves energetic, for the most part young and ready to take on challenges. I'm both the new guy and one of the older members of the group but already count several of the crew as members of my posse: Painters Tony Thompson and Tim Rand, designer Erick Florez, photographer/installation artist Amber Snow Pasiak, photographer/musician Mark Tucci, installation artists Kayla Cady and Jonathan Vaughn, and fellow King Crimson fan + painter Kathy Donovan. BSG curator & HCA director Kathy Herold is both knowledgable as well as adorable, opportunities to get involved, contribute, and make mad resume points abound. This is exactly what I had been working for.
Here are some images taken just wandering around after hanging the first five paintings I'd brought down -- My interest in photography, video and web blogging was part of the reason why they extended an invitation to apply for a spot with them and as of Thursday it's official. Pretty psyched! and to find out more here's the Broad Street Gallery's page on Facebook:
Artist Tony Thompson's zombie arm assembly line up in the arts center.
Artist Tim Rand was doing his coop hours for the month that afternoon and was a bro both in helping curate the installation of my work + do the orientation session, both pretty much without even being consulted beforehand. From what I could see the artists really do run the gallery while curator/director Kathy administrates the HCA activities next door.
And I say it again too: The place is SPOTLESS. The natural light is warm, their track lighting intelligently installed, the walls even, uniform, and inviting. There were no bad spots to be hung in which I could detect, and there is abundant space in the basement for the storage of work to facilitate regular rotation keeping the walls looking fresh. The gallery also has its own telephone (with credit card reader!), a sticking point I'd forgotten to mention until realizing on the way home that nobody asked to use mine to call the owner to solve some distracting crisis -- How about that?
More Tim Rand ... First couple months all I'm planning to do there personally is study the work. I'll be fine, just go, won't need anything except a patch of wall to bang my head against after seeing stuff like this & realizing I just don't have it yet.
The basement with walls made from stones which look 100 years old.
Dry. Bringing more work out Tuesday.
Beautiful stones.
Having fun concocting a bogus conspiracy theory about what this wonderful looking device does ... You see, it's powered directly by the windmills & it controls the drones. Zombies maintain the windmills, and that door? Still working on it.
Some of my paintings on either side of the corner, but we ended up switching the smaller one for something visually stronger.
Tim Rand, who walked me through the orientation process, here with one of his own favorite paintings. I first encountered Tim's work at the Salvage For Change benefit in Utica on May 25 & was blown away by the mural sized rendering of King Tut he had executed. I've yet to see a piece of Tim's which did not exceed my expectations of him as a painter, and he promised to stay out of graduate school and just keep working at it.
Yup. No MFA required, you can get one later if you feel like it.
More Tony Thompson, who encouraged me to seek this place out and get involved.
Thanks mang!
My Herbis Horse #1 on top, with new friend below.
;D
Front window placement!
Broad Street Gallery curator Kathy Herold, center, with colleagues.
On about four hours of sleep, 85 degree weather and an hour's drive, but one happy camper. Returning next week with my friend painter Nate West, who jumped at an opportunity to apply for a spot, and we are both looking forward to doing a one night show in Utica on Friday the 14th at the Radisson with Tim & Tony Thompson. There is just no end to this now, the challenge being creating new work that is significant & meaningful with the always dwindling time available to focus on the studio.
There's a picture I was looking forward to! Mine's at lower left and there are zero lightweight wannabees in that group. No slackers or whiners here.
On the way home to Syracuse on Route 20 .... Call me a kid but I love giant futuristic space windmills!
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