Saltworks will close its gallery on 11th Street. (Photo by Terry Kearns)
After 10 years in the business, Saltworks gallery will close its exhibition space on Friday, August 18. Gallery Director Brian Holcombe and Assistant Director Christina Caudill have decided that the conventional big-box space doesn’t work for them any more. They want more flexibility to respond to changes in collectors’ and the general public’s viewing habits.
We talked with them about their plans and their perspective on the gallery model itself.
ArtsATL: What instigated this change in approach?
Brian Holcombe: We’ve been doing exhibitions for over 10 years, and when we looked back, we decided now it’s time to start leveraging our successes and to focus on what is working for us. We’ve thought about this for a long time, and we felt that we could better serve our artists and collectors and ourselves if we built up the online presence.
The big idea behind it is that we are shifting towards our strengths. People always enjoy when I talk about artwork, and they enjoy what I find. I need to put that in a format where I combine more great work and I can talk about it more in depth and do it to a point where I have agility and mobility, so that I continue to learn just as fast as our collectors and our community.
Now information is even more available to [collectors], so that means I need to spend even more time actually going out there to the physical spaces, which they don’t have the ability to do because they have full-time jobs. Our artists are also full-time artists. This is what they do all day, and they rely on us to be those eyes out there for them so they can just focus on the work.
ArtsATL: Can you give an example of the kinds of things you plan to have available for collectors on your expanded website?
Holcombe: I will be doing more studio visits with the artists and doing video interviews, writing on individual works like highlighting a piece, talking more about historical influences or cultural influence on the artist, things that show that this is a deliberate practice. I would like to help visualize this better so people know how to enter into the work and they know how to bring their knowledge into the conversation.
ArtsATL: So if someone finds something on your website that he would like to see in person but you have no gallery, how would you facilitate that?
Brian Holcombe changes course.
Holcombe: One of the reasons I want to be more mobile is so that I can jump on a plane with the piece and courier it over to L.A., New York, wherever. It makes more sense financially than having a space that is constantly taking the money so that, “Hey, I paid the rent this month so I can’t afford the plane ticket.” Or, “We have to find someone to watch the gallery.” Sometimes I feel trapped in the space and not using my strengths, which is going out there in the field, looking at work, going to the collectors’ homes, seeing what their taste is, finding patterns so I can help them get the perfect piece for them. I’d like to think that I am pretty good at that, and I want to be able to focus on that.
Christina Caudill: That’s also another reason why we wanted to stay in the neighborhood. We’re only moving over to the White Provisions Building, and we’ll have a small space where we’ll be able to have some intimate gatherings and also be able to have a certain amount of artwork to show.
ArtsATL: What is the percentage of sales locally versus out of town?
Holcombe: I think now it is about half and half.
Caudill: It used to be that all of our sales were from out of town, much of which was coming through the fairs. But when we had to stop doing the fairs in 2008 because of the economy, we really focused on the local, and it’s really grown in the last four or five years.
ArtsATL: If you have this local audience coming to you, it seems like a good reason NOT to close.
Caudill: They don’t come to the exhibitions. We sell locally, but they don’t step foot into the gallery.
Holcombe: They come to the space when I call and say, “Hey, come over, I have something to show you.” Or they found us because our artists are on our website. They hear Brian Dettmer on NPR or read that Jiha Moon just won a Joan Mitchell Foundation grant and say, “Oh, that artist is actually based in Atlanta. Oh, here’s a gallery that I can go to.”
We will still have all that contact and accessibility online and will even raise up that level to where I will even be stepping up and making myself more visible by writing on the work so there is more content that people can get and learn on their own.
Jiha Moon's "Storyteller"
Caudill: Maybe that’s a better way of developing collectors. Collectors still need to be developed and nurtured here in Atlanta. Many galleries assume that people know so much, and the people who love art, maybe they don’t know; they just know what they like. It’s more of an educational focus that Brian will be putting out, so that people can begin to feel where they fit or what they are drawn to.
ArtsATL: Clearly something is happening to the exhibition spaces in Atlanta. Solomon Projects and Kiang Gallery closed last year. [See our article here.] Jennifer Schwartz shut her doors last month, and now you are doing the same. What do you perceive is the change in the market that the old gallery model isn’t serving?
Caudill: People now are experiencing things online. Years ago, when we started to do art fairs, it was a shock to us that people would buy a piece of artwork that we did not have on the walls but would show them on a laptop computer. That’s totally normal now. We still want people to be able to experience the work, but at the end of the day, we are a commercial enterprise and we have to look at where our costs are going.
Brian Dettmer's "Prevent Experience"
ArtsATL: Do you think that the future of galleries is that the physical spaces are going to disappear?
Holcombe: I always feel like there are ebbs and flows, and this is just one of the times where you are going to see less of these big-box spaces. You’re going to see more galleries going online. If they have a physical space, it’s going to be a smaller space. Or we’ll see more pop-up shows or innovative ways of putting together an exhibition. . . . Every art community in every city is different. In this city right now, the annual event is riding high. The Art Papers Auction, Atlanta Celebrates Photography, FLUX: all of these things seem to be healthy and growing because people can digest them.
Caudill: It seems like we’re very diluted if we’re constantly showing exhibitions. That is why we want to do something different. When Saltworks does an exhibition or gives a talk, we want people to say, “Oh, this is something that we want to see. It’s going to be worthwhile.”
ArtsATL: So you will continue to program events?
Caudill: Yes, we want to have salon-style talks, and we’ll be at the Aqua Art fair in Miami this December. We also plan to have pop-up exhibitions. Those are still important, because some artists feel like they need that exhibition to create a body of work. There’s only so much of an online exhibition that is going to translate. Brian has been talking to some leasing people, and there are some great spaces that we’re looking at to do month-long shows here or there.
Holcombe: Another thing to remember is that Brian Dettmer will have a solo show at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia this October, and Jiha Moon will have a solo show there next year. Almost half of our local program has solo exhibitions coming up. We are going to be there for them to make sure that they can just focus on making work.
ArtsATL: So will all of the artists you represent stay with you or will the terms of your relationship change?
Caudill: We are still representing our artists.
ArtsATL: Are there other galleries that you are aware of that have gotten rid of a physical space but maintain an exhibition program and represent artists?
Holcombe: Yes. Kinz + Tillou, Brian Dettmer’s New York gallery, has not had a dedicated exhibition space for the last two or three years. It does pop-up exhibitions and takes advantage of the availability of space. But we’re also looking across disciplines, and we notice that a lot of other industries like design and fashion have created more attention by turning to special events that give them more freedom to experiment and to create more visibility for their brand.
ArtsATL: So basically, instead of doing 12 months of exhibitions a year, you’re re-focusing that down to salons, art fairs and maybe four exhibitions that won’t be in the same space .…
Holcombe: That create more of an experience.
Caudill: That’s also why we need to keep the online presence going. We can’t disappear completely and just pop up somewhere and expect people to want to see us or our artists again. The rest of our effort is going to making sure we are still talking to our audience and still providing value and content.
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COMMENTS
Here, here, Scott. Especially in Atlanta, our galleriests work very hard to throw what often becomes a free party for the rest of us. Red dots seem few and far between these days, and most gallerists/curators I know are barely able to make rent/pay bills/etc. They have shows because they love art and artists and want to support both, but often struggle as much as “starving artists.”
We’re still missing the third leg, though. We’ve been discussing the artists and the curators, but what about the buyers? I would love to see more of us supporting each other by buying work FROM the galleries you frequent by artists you know and love.
I couldn’t disagree with Dwee more. The gallery has become the new non-profit that is being subsidized by the all to less than frequent sale. These patrons of the arts are often living on starving artists wages in an effort to present artists that they believe in. They are not being subsidized by grants and donations. They are building spaces, presenting and promoting local, national and sometime international work at their own expense, in the hopes that someone will come in and purchase something, anything. Often they live from show to show, or check to check, sometimes with second jobs, because they actually understand and support the artists they are showing.
Good art is a current and relevant reflection of our lives and culture. To compare it to cleverly sited architectural salvage is completely missing the reality of what art is.
I will speak from experience when I say, I create a body of work that someone such as yourself could easily slide into a category of “slick and expensive/has snob appeal”, I assure you, it is still difficult to make ends meet. To buy a piece of art is to invest in a unique vision, in an artist, and in the community. I will also add, often the artists and galleries are donating more works in a year than they sell, generally to non-profit organizations.
I’m sorry to come off a little gruff, but I don’t think I saw you yesterday at Saltworks for their last day as a commercial space. I encourage you to step into one of the remaining galleries in Atlanta and strike up a conversation with the owner. Ask them about the huge risk they are taking with little reward.
discussion in the atl, act 1, scene 1:
person a: i think i see a potential issue i’d like to discuss.
b: oh, the sky is not falling. leave it alone.
c: yeah.
act 2, scene 1 [some years later]:
a: hey, look, maybe there’s something we need to do better here.
b: always with the sky is falling freak out. sheesh. stop already. things are fine.
c: yeah.
act 3, scene 1 [many years later]:
b: hey, something has changed here. things are not like they used to be. they were better back then.
c: oh, the sky is not falling.
a [now living in another city]: yeah!
Congratulations on a decade of great contributions! I even remember attending some very exciting shows in your huge space in Inman Park. I’ve always admired your taste and presentation and considered you to be one of the best galleries in the region. You have shown work that has meaning and intellect, as well as craft. I hope this change provides opportunities for you both to expand as curators, something needed in the multi-discipline arena. Here’s to a lighter, more nimble future!
Galleries try/tried to imbue art with mystery but they are simply expensive stores for culture shoppers. Those with a shred of imagination can get far better art at a demolition site or antique fair. If art is slick and expensive/has snob appeal, it sells. Artists can make art to sell now, and/or to last beyond current art world fads. The latter requires vision and originality, both rare, but then, that’s what makes art wonderful.
Excellent article, and Rocio’s point made it better. Kudos to you, Catherine, for taking what she said into account. When I started reading I was expecting a tale of woe rather than one of innovation and smart planning. I was pleasantly surprised.
I am going to miss the space with regular showings. I believe strongly in being able to see a variety of art in real life, from artists working on all levels and in all genres. It’s vital to having a vibrant, culturally rich city because live work fosters an art audience and builds up emerging artists AND emerging collectors. Old school galleries certainly play a key role in that mix. Plus, I really love Saltwork’s curatorial aesthetic.
However I’m pretty excited about the online dialog they want to create surrounding the artists and their pieces. I’ll just really be looking forward to those “special events”. Hope some are in the ATL.
The evolution of the traditional gallery model is a universal trend,
http://artmarketmonitor.com/2012/08/16/do-gallery-exhibitions-matter-anymore-discuss/
Good point Rocio. I’ve changed the title of the article to reflect the situation and the interview more accurately. Everything else, including journalism, is changing –why not galleries?
Great article, thanks to all of you. Congratulations on ten great years. You’ve given a lot to your community and you should be happy and proud about that. I’m looking forward to seeing you out on the west coast sometime, Brian and Christina. Best of luck on your new adventure.
This is further indication of the frailty of the cultural marketplace in ATL. From the Woodruff Arts Center on down to Eyedrum – arts institutions are for the most part bumping along ( and sometimes flailing). Yes there are current successes- but what began as promising 25-30 years ago has devolved into very little institutional stability. Strong vital leadership, educated patrons, and dedicated philanthropy would be a good start. Rose colored glasses and boosterism? – haven’t we tried that already. Clap harder the next time a mayor or commissioner restores funding to 3rd tier city levels.
taking off my artist hat and putting on my salesperson hat from decades ago, i can say that the trouble with most galleries i knew in atl was the same trouble i see in almost every other industry: a lack of genuine sales ability. that is, a lack of knowing how to read customers, to know what their “level”of interest/education on the product is, to be able to sense between an impulse buy and a planned acquisition, to be able to answer a customer’s questions before they ask it, to know when/how to approach a customer, and when not to. and still wearing my sales hate – it doesn’t hurt when you let producers product that sells go undersupported and get away. and yeah, this last comment is self-referential. but not so much sour grapes really. i mean not many would choose atl over italy would they? it’s just that i saw a few artists who made work that sold regularly, who should have been invested in. but they weren’t, and they left. for all the talk of art being a business after all, i think it could use more role clarification. i mean, what’s more unappealing than an artist trying to sell? qualified sales people who can truly appreciate how art is not like any other product can be created/taught. artists who have the time to adequately devote to both their art and sales cannot. many may come close. but the cost of those who cannot manage it, and shouldn’t be forced to try, is an overall dilution of the art avilable/seen by the public… and a tougher market as well. the best artists i’ve known sucked at filling out forms and paying the bills and doing PR. but it’s the art of those who can do those things that dominate the art market. to the detriment of everyone.
Thank you Brian and Christina. You know I have been a big fan of your vision since before day one. I am excited to watch you take a new direction and further attempt to activate the community. Continue to be creative, be relevant and be bold. Change is the one constant and it is good. I’m wishing you the best.
I think its great to respond to what the market needs are if you are running a gallery. I have great respect for gallerists who maintain a space and continue to do exhibitions every month. But there is no sinking ship here— just recalibration and looking at different ways of doing business, I think it is smart and I wish Saltworks the best.
Also I wish ATL would get off the narrative that if a gallery closes things are bad. Atlanta has never been more interesting in terms of all that is available to us today and Saltworks morphing into another venue is not a negative thing.