Gallery 54 to celebrate 10th anniversary
The artist/owners of Gallery 54 can be excused if 10 years ago they didn’t realize the impact of what they were setting out to build.
They were a dozen disparate Central New York artists without much more in common than their desire for others to appreciate their art enough to purchase it and make it part of their lives. A few potters, painters, and jewelers; a fiber artist, a photographer and a stained glass artist spent months looking for the right location for their dream of a gallery to showcase their creativity to the community.
On Sept. 6, First Friday for the Arts in Skaneateles, they are throwing a party from 5 to 8 p.m., to celebrate 10 years of reaching for their dream.
While only three of the original dozen founders remain as owners of the artist-owned and operated gallery, they still strive to represent the artists of the greater Central New York region. Several former founders and interim owners remain active artists with the gallery.
The original dozen artists have grown to the point that no one really knows how many artists have called Gallery 54 home over the years, according to one founder and potter Sallie Thompson.
At any given time, she notes, 40 to 50 Central New York artists exhibit and offer for sale a broad range of work in virtually every discipline of the arts.
“It’s come to the point that we regularly have artists from outside of Central New York, seeking the opportunity that showcasing their work in Gallery 54 represents. As a group, we carefully curate each and every request, but few from outside our Central New York community make the cut,” Thompson said.
Founder and jeweler Donna Smith recalled recently that ten years ago the original group of artists, behind the leadership of painter, Kathleen Schneider was motivated to seek a venue to call home that was on the main street of Skaneateles.
“We really wanted a highly visible home base where people could find our work and the heart of Skaneateles was always our objective,” she said.
The need for everyone to be on the same page was evident right from the start.
“We didn’t really expect as much interest in the gallery right at the outset,” Smith said, “and therefore as much business, as what materialized right from the day we first opened our doors. None of us had ever run a business before. So we had to quickly learn how to get things done and how to prioritize all these things.”
The success of the guest artist program is evidenced by the growing list of accomplished, respected and well-known artists who have accepted, and often sought, the opportunity to exhibit at Gallery 54. Currently painter, David Kiehm, a BBC wildlife artist of the year, and Roycroft Artisan, porcelain pottery artist, Leslie Green Guilbault are currently guest artists at the gallery. The list of notable guest artists is long, however, including award-winning watercolor painter, Bob Ripley; fiber artist and teacher, Sharon Bottle Souva; metal sculptor, Jay Seamans, oil painter, Wendy Harris; potter, Tim See and abstract painter and mentalist, Bob Lawson.
In addition to wine and refreshments, the gallery’s anniversary celebrations will feature the opportunity to meet and interact with a number of artists, all with the background music provided by the popular guitarist and singer/songwriter Jane Zell.
