Art Business: The Beginning of Endings... and New Beginnings

reddragonfly (64)in #art • 5 years ago

Only about 40 days to go till the Red Dragonfly Gallery closes the doors of its Brick-and-Mortar location for the final time.

It feels very "final" now; earlier in the week I sat down with Ed — our building manager — and we tentatively scheduled the "final exit walkthrough" for Thursday, June 27th.

Victorian architecture detail in our downtown area

The Irony of Contradictions

It's funny how many visitors we have had since it has become public knowledge that we are closing. Many of them are what I'd call regular visitors, most of whom are remarkably baffled by the whole situation.

"I don't understand... why are you closing? This is SUCH a GREAT Gallery! Where am I going to find art like this in town, now?"

Well, you're not.

A little probing reveals that most of these people who purport to "love the gallery" have never bought a thing in the entire eight years the Red Dragonfly and its predecessor have been open.

And now we're closing.

"Well, you still have some time... everything in the gallery is still available!" I point out.

There's uncomfortable foot shuffling and shoegazing.

The local seagulls are happy...

"Well, I just don't have any money right now; I really can't afford to buy art because we're redoing our kitchen."

Therein lies the crux of the issues facing the art world, and many dedicated art spaces in our times. People inevitably have dozens of "reasons" to NOT buy art. And hence, dedicated art spaces are closing in record numbers, and the business end of art increasingly is becoming an adjunct to other types of businesses that don't actually sell art for a living.

Changing Times...

In the years we've been in the art business, we've watched seven dedicated art galleries close their doors for good... we will become the eighth, in our town of some 10,000.

In that same time period, we have seen two restaurants, two coffee shops, a real estate office, a doctor's office, a dentist's office, two bank lobbies and a hotel lobby open up as "art spaces."

Absolutely, these are creative outlets!

Not sunset, Moonset....

But they are also making a Socio-cultural Statement about art's declining importance... at least from a financial perspective. None of these new venues depend on art... art is merely a sideline that allows otherwise blank walls to potentially produce a little income, here and there.

I suppose we can sit back and say "So WHAT?" but there's more on the table than meets the eye.

Whereas these new businesses definitely offer space for artists to show their creations, they are not going to promote art, because art — quite rightly — isn't their business. As such, the "net effect" of this change in how art is being sold will be an overall lower level of awareness of artists and their work... except for the small handful who also happen to be skilled at social media awareness.

New Beginnings: A Chat With a Friend...

Last week, one of our artists stopped by to pick up her remaining work from us... she's one of "the successful ones," who makes a living as a full-time artist.

We were talking about the above sales situation, and she shared as how we were actually the last dedicated art space where she shows her work. Otherwise, her art is only in "mixed-use" venues.

The town waterfront, 2019

But she actually makes her living not from brick-and-mortar stores, but from traveling nationwide to festivals and comic cons, where she has become highly successful through very "targeted" art.

We plan to continue having a relationship with her, as the Red Dragonfly transitions into its new incarnation as an online art venue and sales outlet.

And that, indeed, is where we find our "New Beginnings." Like all things new, it will take a while to get fully established, but we already have an existing online store and eBay account, as well as a mail order mailing list.

It does make you ponder the entire future of buying things.

What will happen? Will the entire idea of seeing-touching-feeling-smelling something before you buy it be replaced by buying from a photo?

Yes, of course, we can return things... but will we just stop considering that to be "a hassle?"

Beats me.

Maybe I am just old or old-fashioned, but from where I am sitting, it seems like the only people who stand to gain from that development are the people who manufacture shipping packaging, along with delivery and mailing companies like UPS and FedEx.

But hey, I'm a cynic! And I'm always open to be proven wrong!

Thanks for reading!