In October of 2014 I was part of a group that started a cooperative Art Center in a local mall here in my city. The intention was to offer a place where artists can rent a wall space at a reasonable cost on a short term basis to display and, hopefully sell some of their work. It was geared to all artists of all levels and did not require the artist to pay any percentage of sales to the Center. The only 'requirement' was that each artist had to spend a few hours a week while displaying their work, in a volunteer capacity.
It has been a resounding success! After a brief closure just after Christmas to do some much needed maintenance and decorating, we reopened mid-January. We have a large community of local artists who use the space regularly for display, studio space and providing art lessons for the community. The customers and staff of the mall, as well as a large group of regular mall walkers and the patients of the second floor kidney dialysis unit, 2 medical clinics and several other non retail businesses have told us repeatedly how much they appreciate having this little 'gallery' to browse through on a regular basis. The artwork changes up on a regular basis and there is always something new to see.
Needless to say I have been busy with regular volunteer hours at the Center, keeping my own display up to date and staying on top of the additional business this exposure has given my graphite portrait work. I have been teaching several students on a one on one basis and I have also been encouraged by the community of artists within the Center to expand my skills. I have done several paintings in acrylics that have been received well; I've even sold 4 of them!
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| Low Tide - acrylic 30'"x 40" |
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| Two Pears / A Pair of Apples - set of 2 -12" x 12" acrylics done for a square foot show |
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| A Trio of Apples 16 "x 20" acrylics done for a fund raiser for the Art Center |
