NOTE: It has become necessary to note that this piece was posted way back in May of 2012 and things can sometimes change over time. Please bear that in mind when making any decisions about visits.
You all have watched while Anna and I have moved in and restored the old adobe home which would become our gallery (see the previous post Anna Karin Gallery: Before and After which shows how we converted an old adobe home into an art gallery step by step). Starting a gallery up here on the High Road to Taos is a bit different than what most of you would face in other areas. For one thing the High Road is famous to art tourists, so a certain amount of high caliber traffic is built in. Lucky us. That is really the first thing to consider: location, location, location. If there is a well established art district in your town, find a building there.
The next consideration, of course, is cost. You must plan on few sales in your first several years. So your rent and utilities have to be as low as possible to accommodate that. And it wouldn’t hurt to have another source of income. Most of us on the High Road do. We piece together our livings which is one of the ways we make it through the thin times.
And most of us are showing and selling our own work. That way 100% of the sale comes directly to us. That helps.
But then we come to the less quantifiable measures—the more ethereal aspects of opening a gallery. I, personally, think the only way to successfully start a gallery is to do it with heart, love and creativity. It must become a living, breathing part of your life—a rather large and complex “work in progress.” One that brings you joy and to which you bring vast enthusiasm. If you’re not starting with this there’s just no point in even beginning. Because it will be a ton of work. And it will be discouraging—A LOT. You need a built-in belief in what you’re doing or you simply won’t be able to see it through. Seriously.
Anna and I went to Taos again the other day to buy the rest of the flowers for the gallery pots. This is what I mean. We’ve been planning these planters and their plantings for months now. None of this just happens. You need to make it happen. We are “creating” the gallery all the time. Because we love it. Because we have to.
So we borrowed Bill Loyd’s big truck (mostly because we were picking up our gallery couch that we’d put on layaway earlier–see previous post How Many Artists Does it Take…) and headed down the mountain to Taos. Anna drove which gave me a chance to shoot some pics as we moved through the mountains and valleys.
We arrived at Petree’s Nursery (see previous post Petree’s Nursery and Greenhouses, Taos, NM) just as the sky opened up and it started to rain. GORGEOUS! We love the rain here in the high desert of northern New Mexico. Anna already had in mind what we were going to buy, but we wandered through the greenhouses picking out our plants.
We’d already packed the giant couch in the back of the truck and tied it closed so we had to fit everything else in the extended cab (and on my lap). It was a pretty happy truck I want to tell you—filled with all those lovely growing things.
Then, our day’s work done, we headed back to The Trading Post Cafe (tradingpostcafe.com) (See previous post Trading Post Cafe and Gallery, Taos, NM) for a much deserved fabulous meal.
Will was our server once again, which always makes for a lovely time.
We shared the special salad which included a roasted avocado. Yummy!
Anna ordered the braised tuna.
And I had the linguini with lobster sauce, salmon and shrimp. Simply divine.
Our meals done, we couldn’t help ourselves. We HAD to have the Napoleon for desert. Trust me, if you get to the Trading Post Cafe, you MUST order this. It is exquisite!
And then we headed back up the mountain to our wonderful village of Truchas and to the gallery we share. I suppose that’s the other thing about opening a gallery: take a partner if you can. Do your gallery with a friend you enjoy; someone whose vision is in keeping with your own. Anna and I are very lucky in this. We share the work, we shore each other up when the going gets tough, and we relish the good times together. It is satisfying to create something as rich and vibrant as an art gallery. And it is wonderful to have someone by your side who knows just how much you’ve accomplished; and how much more there is to gain.
Love to you all,
Jeane
Very Nice. Like everything.
Thanks! We quite love it.
As much as I try to resist
(you know you can block me on FB and your blog!), I cannot. Blogs are
supposed to generate some reaction, I think, so I am an actor in that
context. Posting a blueprint for opening a gallery in Truchas seems
innocent but to me shows insensitivity to the decades of conflict
evident in that town regarding contentious relations between long-time
established residents (some call them ‘locals’, a term I find demeaning
and a not-so-veiled characteristic of hegemonic patrimony) and more
recently arrived residents (some call them ‘newcomers’ – an equally
dissatisfying term for me, or worse appellations are applied). Simply
put, nuance and subtlety go a long way in nurturing healthy
relationships in a highly charged and culturally politicized context.
Aspects of economic opportunity, education and overall community health
come into play. You might re-title your post “How to Perpetuate Conflict
in a Rural Mountain Village”. I find that it flaunts the divide. The
median income in Rio Arriba county is about $19,000 per year. I know
Truchas and Cordova fall well below that. The last census put Cordova at
$13,000. Federal guidelines place official poverty level for a family
of 4 at about $24,000 and it should be higher. It’s complicated but at a
quick glance, you can see the situation is absolutely dire. It is
staggering to really think of it in terms of other factors such as
utility costs, transportation costs, nutrition, health care and
educational and employment opportunities. About 20% of Rio Arribans live
in perpetual poverty and I know Truchas and Cordova are well above that
mark. 16% of Rio Arribans have a Bachelor’s degree or higher though my
colleague claims that number is way inflated. 12% are ‘white
non-hispanic’. The “How to open a gallery in Truchas” essay accompanied
by pics of braised tuna and linguini with lobster sauce, not to mention
images of grampo’s old adobe transformed into the essence of
elegance…well, let’s just say I find it to be provocative. I do not
object to the gallery, the beauty, the lifestyle, the economic
opportunity you have created for yourself, the world you have created…I
object to the reproduction of a cultural divide perpetuated by the one
dimensionality of this post. I am concerned by the reproduction of class
conflict perpetuated here. What ideology is at work? Whose culture?
Whose history? Whose economy? I believe that your gallery in Truchas is
not a neutral act, Jeane. It is a political, cultural and economic act.
To what extent do we participate in the social arrangements, the social
order of our communities? I recently read a critique of liberal ideology
(written by a neo-marxist) that the collective commitment to social,
economic and educational progress is hindered by an inadequate sense of
relationships to each other within our communities and without. I think
artists have a responsibility just like other agents with special skills
and abilities to truly explore the nature of social order. I would like
to respectfully suggest that we examine to what degree we as
‘intellectuals’ legitimate an economic and social stratification that
becomes exclusive and elite rather than inclusive. I know you
personally, Jeane. I know you are one of the most generous people on
earth. At the same time, I cannot ignore the provocative nature of this
post. It is such an important subject and one that I am very interested
in. -TM
Hi Terry–I would never block you and I genuinely appreciate your considered response, both the points you make and the time you took to present them. You deserve a thoughtful answer. I’m going to write a post addressing your concerns, to publish next week. Thank you for your continued interest in the blog and your willingness to share your perspective.
Personally I look to this blog as a sharing of your personal experience of the beauty in the area. I feel like you have included blogs filled with the personality of the towns people…the library’s authors sharing and local businesses like the recycled clothing other artists and restaurants.
High Road Artist for me is a look at the Artist galleries and your own work to appeal to us to be more creative if it is in us – or to inspire us to travel to NM to see the lovely area and aid the economy with out tourist visits. Perhaps your blog will elicit action in ways that Terry will find positive on the part of those visiting or those living near or in the area:)I would love to see your response to Terry Mulert. I was not aware of the statistics regarding income of the indigenous population, but I think it is a common fiscal issue in many US areas. I would assume the artists and galleries are bringing people to the area that might help the locals have more business and jobs eventually if not already.You put Truchas NM on the map for the folks that follow the blog and I also think Terry’s opinions are a good communication starter:).
i enjoyed your post grace. i also point to the access to media and literate forms of communication as a possible refining, redefining, rewriting the narrative of a place. it has happened many times over in history. inequitable access to literate forms perpetuates inequities on other scales and scopes. i suggest that a writer of a blog that proposes to capture and characterize the spirit of place suddenly accepts the burden of responsibility, like it or not. i continue to antagonize jeane in this regard because we have witnessed the co-opting of cultural capital by travel writers and historians many times over. often their limited truth becomes the collective truth. once we write things down, it sticks whether in the ether of the www or in old dusty newspapers.
I’m going to address the specific issues you brought up earlier today in next week’s post. I want time to sit with what you’ve written so I can offer a deeper response than I might be able to give now. But in response to your note to Grace, I want to say that, while I agree there is some responsibility in putting my words out there, I have never meant to “capture and characterize the spirit of place,” as you put it. I am writing about my life–about how I live–how I came to be an artist, what that means and how that reality continues to shift. Yes, place comes into it, but if I am trying to capture the spirit of anything, it is of this path I walk–its joys and challenges. Other than the artist profiles, the blog is really about an exploration of my personal journey–my personal narrative. I will endeavor to be more sensitive to what I write about place, but it has never been my intention to tell the story of these mountains., other than how I walk upon them.
So much of what I do and write about is focused on the life I have chosen to live in an attempt to, perhaps, inspire others to their art or to their true path, whatever that may be. I’ve never intended for the blog to be a political conversation. It is simply my personal blog–much lighter fair by design. But the points Terry makes are valid and true and deserve a considered response, both for Terry and for me. His attention to the blog will, perhaps, keep me thinking more critically, and elevate the conversation. But the blog must continue to be my voice. It’s all I have to give and I have to be true to that. Here’s a post I wrote long ago that touches on some of what Terry brings up: http://high-road-artist.com/423/southwest-history/a-little-mountain-history/.
Glad you had a great time Jeane – The photo’s are great.
Kimberly – Trading Post Cafe, Italian Restaurant
Couldn’t have been better. We’ll see you next time we’re in town.