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The first Gallery Hop of 2009 takes place on this Saturday, January 3rd and the weather looks like it will be more accomodating than last month for those who want to attend in the monthly madness. This month’s gallery exhibitions include:
The Ohio Art League GalleryYvette van der Velde and Tom Kelly: Function to Form
Curated by: Tom Kelly
Opening Reception: January 3, 6 – 9pm
BrokenHearted at Rivet Gallery
Solo Exhibition – Opening January 3rd, 7-10pm
Featuring the art of Daniel Elson of Columbus
The Art Exchange
Artist(s): Marti Steffy, Curtis Goldstein, Cynthia Vardhan, Roxanne Smith-Mansell, Doug McLarty, LaVon Van Williams, Eve Warnock, Clint Davidson, Carolyn Beavers
About the Exhibit: Original, gift ready items in various sizes and affordable prices
The Sharon Weiss Gallery
Exhibit Title: People and Places
Artist(s): Rachel Stern
Art Media: Oil on canvas
For details on these gallery exhibits and more, visit ShortNorth.org
There was an article in the Dispatch mirroring an earlier discussions here about the diminishing number of galleries and the changing face of the Hop.
We were sans-Alec for the Hop this time, so made special attention to hit all the proper galleries and shops we don’t normally. I have to say that our impressions of the galleries was not high. Most of the galleries are essentially shops and the art displayed is rather dull, low quality and has decidedly middlebrow sensibilities. We regretted the time spent viewing. The overall quality and interest of what is @ Agora, just as one example, blows the GH away.
I will give props to Roy G Biv. Even though I didn’t like the particular exhibit, it was an actual exhibit designed in a space and as a unifed whole. That is the norm there and sadly the exception.
One thing in particular I’d like to see, given the diminishing number of pure galleries, is that retail locations, restaurants and other businesses make an effort to embrace the ‘artness’ of the Hop. (Some places aren’t even open which is really sad.) Carve out a little space and display something. Even if your core business has nothing to do with retail or the arts, open up and be a good neighbor by hosting an exhibit. NAI and others who have vacact storefronts would also let them be used. There were just too many dead zones on a night where the SN should be shining.
I realize the Jan Hop is kind of a lame duck and one of my favorites places, down below Eccelsia, wasn’t open. I do hope that the article and the subsequent Hops do stimulate some thought about where things are going.
A.
I think a lot of the long time business do this (Waldo’s for example), and some of the new ones are making that effort (Two Dogs), but I agree…EVERY shop, regardless of what they do, should free up some wall space and show something other than what THEY sell.
I saw that article. It did remind me of that past conversation here: “Should the Gallery Hop be Put to Rest?”
I’m fine with the Gallery Hop changing and evolving into something else just as the Short North has changed and evolved. Most people will agree that it’s become more of a shopping/eating destination than an art destination, and the number of artists who live in the Short North diminished a long time ago. It’s part of the process of a neighborhood on its way up the ladder though, and it would be somewhat artificial to try to force it to stop evolving and try to pick a specific era (Short North 1990? Short North 1996? Short North 2002?) to lock in place. No matter what part of the timeline a neighborhood is sitting on, there will always be someone to complain about how things were better back in “the good old days”.
Instead, I say we support the arts in the places that they’ve moved on to. Junctionview, the North end of the Short North, Franklinton, North Parsons, or wherever else people are moving tomorrow. It’s not like the arts have been run out of town. They’re just moving into other neighborhoods that are a better fit right now.
While I agree that supporting the arts wherever they move is great…taking the “arts” out of the Short North ARTS DISTRICT, so prominently featured as such in virtually every national article you posted on this site over the last 2 years…would be a mistake.
If the Short North becomes simply a “pretty good restaurant and drink” district, and the Gallery Hop a tamed down version of “eat and drink till 11 once a month”…it stops being remotely special.
That is what I was getting at. A lot of time and effort has been spent in promoting the “arts” aspect of the SN. While it is certainly healthy for an area and an event to grow and evolve, the SN and Columbus will be throwing out a lot of hard-won capital in identity building if they don’t make efforts to keep the arts involved. ‘Eat and Drink’ districts are common and transitory.
A.
Core, I’m not asking anyone to make a concerted effort to take the Arts out of the Short North / Gallery Hop. I just think it’s going to continue to slowly happen over time as the neighborhood evolves.
I just don’t think it’s a bad thing for it to continue to turn into more of a “Mixed-Use Multi-Purpose Neighborhood” than just an “Arts District” only.
Otherwise, if the Short North really wants to do a 180, I’d suggest the SNBA securing a property to develop something along the lines of what ArtsSpace does and bring some affordable artist-focused housing back to the neighborhood through subsidized rentals. Because those CCAD graduates who might be showing work at the OAL or Roy G Biv aren’t the typical people ready to buy a condo at The Jackson, Ibiza, or The Dakota. And if those young emerging artists have no option other than to set up in more affordable parts of town, then that’s where the arts focus is going to shift to.