Art Show #21

The Business Of Art
I was at a pub last night and a man who works with the town hall approached me. He said, "What are you artists doing over on Pearl Street?"
He explained to me that the behind the scenes business development of our art colony that business type stuff that as an artist isn’t within the realm of my day to day thoughts. It made me wonder that maybe I should consider the business side of art.
Over the many broadcasts I have often spoken of the Pearl Street art colony where my studio is. From it’s inception I have loved the idea behind Pearl Street – taking an old run down neighborhood in downtown Hyannis and transforming it into a thriving art destination. As a matter of fact the reason for this very broadcast grew out of my excitement for this art colony under new construction. And I love Hyannis, it’s named after my eleven generations ago grandfather and I have a deep passion to see this newly conceived art colony take place. Many of you haven’t been to Hyannis, and maybe really don’t fully understand Pearl Street. Within arms reach of where the packed ferries venture to cross the twenty five miles of the Nantucket sound to reach Nantucket, or Martha’s Vineyard is Hyannis. In some regards it’s a small seaport with a village perched at the top of the hill. Main Street in Hyannis is a mixture of restaurants and shops, and like most tourist dependent resorts the names on the shops change as frequently as the tourists.
During the summer the traffic around Hyannis and is constantly stop and go. To the tourists it looks like Hyannis is a metropolis, but if you’re a local it doesn’t take long to get to all the other locals. As one of my friends put it as she formed her index finger and thumb into the shape of a small circle, "The Cape is the size of a quarter." In the middle of Main Street where tourists gather by the bus load is the famous John F Kennedy Museum. Tourists hurdle in front of the statue with the museum placard in the background and photo op’s are exploited. A distance measurable in yards, just beyond the JFK Museum, the next street up on the left is Pearl Street. It runs in the direction toward the ferry launch. On a hot summer morning, especially in the early morning, the wonderful smell from the ocean finds it’s way up Pearl Street. Sometimes the air feels like it’s delivering the history of all that has taken place before, it’s as if the wonderful air is laden with the past Hyannis seems to so wonderfully cling to.
When the Pearl Street art colony came to life due to the incredible generosity of people like Pat Cursio and Shirley Blair Flynn, their vision was to create a place for artists to nurture their growth. The gift of a 1938 house and small barn bequeathed from Shirley to the Town to be used as working studios created the foundation for a multitude of wonderful artistic expressions. When the renovations to the former house where completed by the town, six of us moved in and started painting. The art that has been turned out of there to me is astonishing. As a group each of us have motivated the other to be pushed, to struggle, to be part os something very positive. This is the premise by which I thought a verbal journal of what’s taking place on Pearl Street needs to be preserved. The very reason for this radio show, this podcast, was to record the history of Pearl Street as it became a well known art destination on Cape Cod. This was the reason iTunes decided to carry the broadcast you are listening to.
It didn’t take long for the expansion of Pearl Street to be seen as a good business investment by local merchants. Some had the vision to see that the artists of the Pearl Street art colony where going to revitalize a run down section of town and they wanted to be part of it. And God bless them for their interest. Not long after we opened the doors to our working studio did other doors begin to open all around us. Old buildings were remodeled and soon galleries began to open. The concept of transforming Pearl Street into an important art destination had all the ingredients for success. The woman managing all these efforts for the Town had the outstanding skill of being able to see into the future what Pearl Street should be and worked hard to put the plan in place. She did a great job at motivating others and keeping us on track for the greater good. Enthusiasm became mixed into our paints as those of us as artists worked in excitement. Pearl Street became the new envy of the art community, many other artists wished they were involved, but space was limited. Not enough supply and too much demand put Pearl Street on the map and from it interest grew all over the Cape. Pearl Street became known as the cool place.
Eventually the wonderful woman who worked for the town, the woman whose efforts brought Pearl Street together left her position with the town. Her departure came at the same time a new gallery, a flagship for Pearl Street was opening up. The idea behind the gallery was a coop style whereby various artists would consign their art. It was intended that as many as two dozen artists would participate in this coop gallery. At that time I was invited to join, and I did for one day, then I quit. The problem I saw was that with such a mixture of artists the strong possibility was that there would be wide range of varying degrees within the art. Some good and some bad. The mixed bag of amateur verus professional art concerned me, so I dropped out. Another reason for my decision to drop out of the coop gallery at that time dovetails into this week’s topic: The Business Of Art.
It’s a very good thing I dropped out when I did. The coop gallery was being infiltrated with management form a local art association.. The art association moving in to manage the new coop from my perspective was an accident waiting to happen. The problem with using a local art association to run a gallery was that in no time whatsoever the word will get out and the gallery will be known as the art association’s gallery. My concern was that my name, the business of my art, would be dragged into the business of the art associations. I’m not slamming the art association, but they have a nitch in the world of art as a business for marketing low end amature art, for which there is a market, just not one I want to sell my art in, nor be affiliated with.
Within a very short period of time the new coop gallery became known as the place for amateurs to sell their art, which is sad because that wasn’t the case. Many very talented artists were in the new coop, but because the art association’s name was recognized by the public as amateurish art the new gallery was dragged through the mud. At this same time the wonderful woman who had spearheaded the development of Pearl Street left her position with the town, her no longer working for the Town meant a replacement would have to be hired.
The town decided to promote a person who I think was an assistant clerk. The title for the position being Arts and Culture Coordinator. A person with zero experience in the arts and zero experience in coordinating culture was given the job. The woman took over and within moments after starting her job she fired the warning shot across the bow of us artists; she was in town to take charge. She asked if she could introduce herself during one of our art shows, we agreed and in she walked with her clip board, ready to assign decisions to each of the artists who now ‘worked for her". She went right to work with the first question being, " Why do you have art hung on the walls?" I couldn’t believe the question, I thought she was joking. She then shook her head, "I don’t know if you can hang art on the walls. I’ll have to get a legal opinion on that. " Out she went, straight out the door to the town’s attorney office. My disbelief I can’t can describe.
From that moment things went downhill. As one of the other artists, a friend and colleague put it, "she speaks from both sides of her mouth." Trust evaporated. Too often she had two versions of the truth, one truth which fit something she made up, and the other truth being what she thought you might want to hear. When we asked her questions she would become defensive, her annoyance would build, and she’d reply, "You’re trying to spin my words, that’s why I can’t answer your questions." Her role as Arts ands Culture Coordinator destroyed the moral and created so much conflict our studios became a place of depressing negativism. Most of us shined away form going into our respective studios for fear it would bring us down. What was once a thriving place to be creative was now a dark place where negative distrust dwelled.
So it was when at the pub last night and this man who works with the town hall approached me and said, "What are you artists doing over on Pearl Street?, I replied, "I think the town has messed up on this one." The coop gallery is in trouble he told me, and from my own view, our studio is also in trouble. I say the town has messed up because the vision that once provided promise and direction is now gone, in it’s place is that narrow thinking of treating artists as employees and directing them as if we sit in cubicle awaiting direction from the boss. The town has left this poor woman all alone, she’s trying to do a job she doesn’t understand, and as she herself said it’s her role to make policy as she fits. She even went on to say that her predecessor didn’t document anything therefore she’ll has to make and implement all new policy regarding how she will handle our professions as artists. It’s scary to think an unqualified person is now going to walk in manage your career path.
The business of art is a delicate balance. Selling art has been a struggle for artists since day one. Artists are artists and the challenge of selling art is typically not within the realm as to why they became an artist in the first place. Overcoming the fear to produce art is one thing, to overcome the fear of explaining why someone should buy their art is a whole new matter. It took the brave personality of Picasso to say, "My art is art (and therefore worthy of the price) because I said so." Most artist’s don’t have the courage to stand up and direct the public this way. This is where on Pearl Street the coop gallery and studio space need an Arts ands Culture Coordinator to work with us and for us. Instead though the town let a woman who initially blazed the trail go, and in her wake promoted a woman whose intention was getting a promotion into a job. I question her capability.
I have received over the many broadcasts many wonderful emails and phone calls from you guys complimenting my optimism. I’m very optimistic that Pearl Street will survive, maybe in a different form from what it once was, and I strongly believe art in Hyannis will thrive and that someday Hyannis will be known as the art destination second only to beautiful Provincetown. The challenge I believe is that hiring a person with no experience in coordinating the arts and culture with neither art nor culture as a background, but rather only interested in getting a promotion, severely limits vision.
So what’s the answer? There’s a great push in our country right now to call on each of us to volunteer. In this regard, unless the town is capable of hiring that one in a million person who can really walk in and instil that sense of vision that motivates the development of a project as big as Pearl Street they should put together a board of advisors. The initiative behind the board of advisors would be to get the Pearl Street art colony unified in one common objective. Right now the Pearl Street art colony consists of a coop gallery, a private gallery, an ice cream shop, a coffee shop, an artist in residence, a working art studio , and a barn for teaching art and holding art shows. If the town orchestrated a Board Of Advisors to develop and overall plan to carve out the Pearl Street art colony mission with clarity it would send a positive signal to the public. A signal from which the public, I believe, would consider the Pearl Street art colony as a serious and professional place for art. If you recall a few broadcasts back I mentioned meeting an art professor at a local college. The professor asked if I was involved with the coop gallery on Pearl Street. I said, "No.", to which he professor replied, "Yeah, it’s too bad amateurs have taken over the coop gallery."
It’s not until people like this art professor are able to endorse and support the activity on Pearl Street that Pearl Street will be able to shine as Cape Cod’s serious place for professional art.
I recommend the Board Of Advisors be made up of a hand few of Hyannis Main Street business owners, professional artists, a town representative, and a member from the Main Street Business Improvement and Development Board, and the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod. The purpose of the Board Of Advisors would be to draft a document outlining one common plan for success for the entirety of the Pearl Street art colony.
Many of you have heard me say over the many shows that I am a spiritual person, and I strongly believe all things have a reason for being. I don’t view the decline of the enthusiasm on Pearl Street as anything other than a signal; it’s time for me to move on into the next chapter of my art. I say this because the business of art means as an artist I must be cautious with my affiliations as an artist. I can’t afford to have my name dragged down as the town carries Pearl Street through the mud. I can’t afford to have a man at the pub ask me questions as to my involvement in an art initiative that is failing. I can’t afford to have an art professor thinking I’m connected to a group of amateurs incapable of effectively marketing their art. The business of art means I have to make business decisions if my name is to survive as a reputable and serious artist. The business of art means it’s time for me to vacate Pearl Street. But don’t despair my friends, my optimism is shining through. When one door closes ten other doors open, and if you’re spiritual like me they will close and open for good reason. I don’t know exactly what the future will hold in terms of my next studio, but my eyes and heart are wide open and we’ll see where the next adventure lands my pallette knife. In the interim I am smiling.
Onto another topic, now here’s a good idea, my friend and colleague Elaine Cohen has come up with a great idea for an exhibit, with a reception promising a bit of a twist. The art show would be titled "The Salon des Refusés", which is French for "exhibition of rejects". It stems from an 1863 exhibition of works that were rejected by the jury of the official Paris Salon. The Salon des Refusés of 1863 exhibited the works the Paris Salon had rejected. Some of these jury-rejects went on to become very famous paintings, such as Édouard Manet's Luncheon on the Grass, and James McNeill Whistler's Girl in White. Any artists out there that are interetsed in exhibiting in such a show are welcomed to contact me at MayflowerStudio@aol.com