This is my gallery...well, not exactly as shown here, nor my "own" gallery, but this is the gallery I am now showing in. I was amazed that when finding this photo how colorful the walls were. I was wondering last night why the walls were a butter yellow. Of course I wondered that because my crafts literally blended into the walls! However, I think there is an easy remedy to that, I will drape the clear glass that is on two old fashioned heating radiators with a white drop cloth. That should make the colorful items I create pop out more.
I wanted to visit the gallery Saturday night as it was during the monthly Art Walk and I wanted to see and answer any questions that visitors might have. I was surprised at how much the gallery had changed since last Sunday when I set up my space. I was obviously not the only late one! There were new, at least to me, beautiful arts and crafts throughout the room. The monthly contest was the same but it seemed that just about everything else had changed.
There were wonderful items, things that I would buy if only were weren't trying to get rid of all the clutter we have accumulated over the years!
The bigger surprise was the number of people who found the gallery. While signed on the sidewalk, you have to walk into this old multi-story building, then find the rather small doorway that leads downstairs. Gallery SoHo shares the basement with Gallery 57. Very different types of art that compliment each other quite well. People must be used to this venue or hopefully, they are hungry for art.
People do come and that is gratifying. After looking at and talking to fellow artists my wife and I went upstairs and walked around the plaza. The biggest change was how many of the galleries were gone. When a friend managed the same gallery a few years ago, the streets were lined with galleries and everyone was usually packed. The only thing packed last night was the crowd waiting to get into the "Zoe" concert at the old theatre on the corner. THAT had people lined up around the block.
Its a sad time when the arts disappear. And they HAVE disappeared everywhere. Small galleries, the arts in schools as the requirements in schools have no time for such things. Yes, there is a budget crunch but yes, a society dies when its vision is lost. There are many who think that is happening right now. When we look back, witness the rise and interest in antiques and "vintage" items many of us grew up with in the 20th century that are now collectibles (oh if my Mom had only kept my toys and comic books), we are not looking toward the future. Yes we have technology that is always trying to invent the next best thing. However, they are selling us something to use, they are not giving us a vision of beauty or discourse or questioning our goals and aims. I love my iPhone but its just a tool.
Technology can be a wonderful resource but it is not a Mozart, or Hemingway, or Monet who looked at the world differently and crafted beautiful things for us to treasure hundreds of years later. I can enjoy a painting for the mastery or what it says to me. Monet's waterlilies take you out of this world into a world of beauty unlike we may ever see. I can listen to a Mozart symphony and love the flow of music. Reading Hemingway I can picture images in my mind of the words he crafted. Sorry iPhone, all you say to me is that you are a tool, a means to an end but NOT the end itself.
When you read the frenzy around the discovery of 1500 lost works of 20th Century art, as wonderful as it is, it is still the past. Where do we have such frenzy on the present or even the future? We have become introspective and as a society, I feel, lost our way. However, as long as we have artists who share their own vision, like those in Gallery SoHo, there is hope for the future.
If you live in Southern California, the Gallery SoHo is on 300-A Thomas Street, Pomona, CA. Gallery hours are Thursday - Sundays from 11-4. The Art Walk is the second Saturday of the month from 6 - 9 p.m. As they say, COME ON DOWN!
Please visit KrugsStudio.etsy.com. The Holidays are coming and I have many wonderful, original and creative gifts in a variety of price points. Thank you for reading.
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