First Posted: 2/13/2015
1. What is your position at Riverside Art Center?
Technically, Riverside is very baby steps. It is in its eighth year, so there was no technical gallery director until they gave me the position. I’ve done that for at least six years, but in the last year and this year, I became the co-gallery director with another lady. That is because there are a lot of things targeted to the gallery director. As Riverside got bigger, there is a lot more that comes under the gallery director and it became a two-person job. There are no paid positions here — just volunteers. Well, because it evolved that we needed a person to run the gift shop and answer phones and just keep the gallery open, we found out about Experience Works which hires those 55 and older. So, we have someone from there, but the state pays them, not the gallery.
2. What does your job as the co-gallery director entail?
The most obvious thing is that I take down shows and hang up new shows. I go out and contact artists. I schedule the showing on the calendar, so there is no overlap. It takes at least a week between shows. I do mundane things like spackle where there are nail holes. Art shows are most of our job, but also under the gallery director is anything that happens in the gallery. When the weather is nice, we have nursing home residents that come over to look at the current show. We also hold different events like during the holiday season the gallery turns into a type of boutique where we have more merchandise for sale and can showcase different artists. We have a vendors show twice a year. We also have two juried art shows, plus some other smaller events.
3. How do you decide what art should have a show?
The way it usually works is they have entered one of our juried shows. Through entering the juried show, we connect with the artist. That sets up conversations. It’s easiest for the artist and for us, so we can both figure out the schedule. Sometimes, it’s by word of mouth. We have a wonderful artist community in this area. A lot of times, the directors all go to each other’s openings. We do have some artists, not many, that call us up. When we start talking about them having a show, the main thing is having enough work. The gallery is not wide but it is very deep, and we can hang about 90 pieces. It’s hard for one individual to fill that space unless they are a seasoned artist. It is easier to go in as a group.
4. Have you found any exciting new artists lately?
There’s an incredible new artist. It is a young man who is from Bowling Green. He is at school in Michigan right now. There’s a rotation of shows so you enter one, you usually enter the others.
That’s how we found him. He was amazingly talented and uses some new techniques which brought him to everyone’s attention.
5. What other things do you do besides being an art gallery director?
I do not have a teaching certificate, but I do teach at ArtSpace/Lima. I teach in Bluffton, at Riverside, all over the place. I teach a lot at nursing homes because I love interacting with people I can help. I also teach homeschoolers and go a lot of places like art fairs. I am also a professional, so I enter shows and sell my work.
6. What would surprise people about being an art gallery director?
I think what would surprise people is that they can ask us any question, and we are only too glad to sit and talk. We are very accessible. Ask us anything. Getting people interested in art is one of our focuses.
