Creating a multi-functional gallery + studio space

I’ve tried, and largely failed, to come up with good language to best describe my business. In the summer and fall, it is mostly gallery, with a corner of the room serving as both my studio and gallery office. During the winter, the space becomes more studio and less gallery (we are open by appointment only in the off-season).

My gallery space is small(ish) and completely open, with no built in storage and I prefer to work in an airy, light-filled space, as well as curate art in that context. This combination presents a few unique challenges which was solved by making sure most of the large pieces of furniture in the space can serve several purposes.

The benches, seen above, are a great place to visit and can also serve as display space when needed. During the winter, they can be pushed together to create a large surface on which to spread out works in progress.

All of the easels in my studio are used as working easels when I teach, but also function as display easels when needed.

In this photo, the summer studio area is slightly reconfigured for a gallery event. My large working easel is turned around to display a finished work of art.

Last winter, the gallery benches were pushed together to become a surface on which to spread out works in progress.

The gallery tables can be pushed together to create a large work area. I use this arrangement in the winter and when I teach workshops here.

The space is quite beautiful, with daylight color temperature and high ceilings, making it pretty easy to create a spacious feeling as long as I ruthless edit while installing work. This can be difficulty and once again, I’m not sure if it’s the best business strategy, but it is my curatorial aesthetic and point of view.

While there are a lot of ideas out there about what a gallery should be, I think the best galleries, like the best art, are unique and speak to an individual point of view. We are living in a time of rapid change. Like everything else, the art world is changing, reinventing itself, moving around furniture. So maybe it’s okay not to come up with the right words to explain shifting spaces in shifting times.

We’ll make it up as we go. Artists are good at that.