Exhibiting at 78th Street Studios is a numbers game. For me it has been 54 months, nearly as many Third Fridays, thousands of laughs and hundreds of new and return visitors. And on April 19, 2019 I will be enjoying one last Third Friday in Gallery +. I am closing my wall in Suite 109 that night. I am heading off to my next adventure.
78th Street Studios is the coolest art place around. I feel like I know because I’ve been around the art scene for a while. I tested the “art waters” in Canton and long ago, the First Friday Artwalk kicked off while I was with the Canton Artists League. That was a great time. So much fun. I loved going there whether I was exhibiting or just visiting with the artists and other exhibitors. I branched out later and checked the Summit Artspace in Akron. I joined the Akron Society of Artists and the Artists of Rubber City. I exhibited there in the Big Box gallery space and met a new group of Cleveland artists. It wasn’t long and I was invited join in an exhibit at CWAL, Cleveland West Art League in the studio space next to Zack Hoon’s soon-to-be new shop in the 78th Street Studios. One thing led to another and I was included with the other charter members of Gallery + when it opened in 2014. I was and still am mesmerized by the energy and excitement in inside 78th Street Studios.
Zack Hoon relocated from a small space on the second floor in 78th Street Studios to the first floor in a much larger “gallery”. Zack had been running his advertising business in 78th Street and was expanding into an art gallery representing himself and other artists. I was thrilled to be invited to be part of the original cast. I previewed new work there featuring artwork of places I had traveled around the world but always fell back on my New York portfolio. I managed to mix things up and jockeyed things around on “my” wall. I was always happy to explain my work process and tried to educate wannabe artists about using the proper proportion of pigment and water to make a watercolor painting “sing”.
This is not the end of gallery exhibitions for me. I’m going to New York City on April 12 (this Friday) for an exhibit of the American Watercolor Society at the Salmagundi Club in downtown Manhattan. I have a piece of artwork in that exhibit and will be recognized as a new signature member of American Watercolor Society.
Stay tuned for more updates of exhibitions in a gallery somewhere near you.
