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Blog Entry 8 of 8 A Girl with a Gallery
This blog is a journal and dialogue of discovery,knowledge and questioning about all things cultural and artistic - fine art, craft, design, sculpture, architecture, food, fashion, theater, dance, spoken word, writing, poetry and anything else I can fit in! Although I am a Denver native, I lived, studied and ran my art business in London for several years. Moving back to the metro Denver area in 2003 was a big adjustment artistically and culturally. Art is a big part of my life and is present for me everyday.

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~GalleryGirl

Art-o-nomics in the East End

Contributed by: Kim Harrell   on 10/7/2008

I sit here wondering what to write about and my husband seems shocked that I even have to contemplate my subject. "The economy, for one", he says. I think, how dull and sad but I concede he has a point. I like a challenge. How to talk about art and the economy.

Well. I have to say, dare I, that things are going rather well in mypart of theworld. This is not the first time my business has weathered bad financiall times. Remember the dot-com bust in 2001? I survived that and 9/11 AND I was operating out of London, one of the financial hub-bubs of the world. What I can tell you about then as I can about now is I had to work a bit harder to get my piece of the pie. My piece was a bit smaller but that was okay.

My current mind set is that I remain positive. What is the point of wallowing in misery? I live within my means and my business does, too. Yes, I rely on customers coming into my gallery but that is not all I do. Aha, you say.

In addition to selling other artist's work, I also sell mine; I do commission work; I broker commissions for other artists; I wholesale my work. Are you getting the idea? If you put all your eggs in one basket and you fall, guess what? Most of them get broken. If you don't, you have a chance of salvaging other parts of the harvest.

This is advice worth taking to heart. I have learned over the 11 years I have run a business in two countries, that it is wise to have options and variety in one's life and business. I do not rely on one vendor for all of my raw materials; I do not rely on one artist to generate income for the gallery; I do not rely on one aspect of the business to generate new clients and I do not rely on one line of jewelry I create and am always adding to my collectionsand working on new ones.

Another aspect of my business that I give a high priority toare my clients and customer service. And guess what? Customers are only one type of client; artists are another and so are other galleries/shops that carry my jewelry. I nuture those relationships. I care about those relationships. If those relationships did not exist, I could not be in business. So, all of my relationships are important to my business from the person who walks through my door for the first time to the person who has been with me from the first day I started. I honestly like people and want to be of service to them. I want my clients to be happy with their product or service that I have offered them. If they are not happy, I am not happy and my business will not survive in these tough times.

As I say in my gallery newsletter, "We want you to have art in your life and to share it with others'. I mean that. So in these tough, rough and not so rosey times of financial strife, I find my friends, clients and customers turn to my business for a little artistic 'pick me up'; some banter about art history and a smile of reassurance that,because of them,I will stick around and be here after Wall Street settles down, a new president is elected and our economy readjusts and finds a better, truer rythmn that is not fueled by greed, self-interest and immediate gratification.Well, I can live in hope, right?

Because I love what I do, I nuture all the relationships I have with integrity. We all benefit from the relationship just like in personal relationships. The more you give to people, the more you get back in one way or another and I am not just talking about money.

I do not know if I have addressed the issue of 'art and the economy' but I have shared with you my personal journey at this moment and time. I have worked hard to build a solid foundation on which to build my business. I would like to encourage you to, once again, consider where you spend your hard earned cash. I urge you to 'buy local' as much as is possible and support independent businesses as they are the foundation of our local economy. Every little bit helps and the local business owner will be more grateful than you can know. You have a choice everytime you spend a dollar to make a difference not only in your life but in the life of countless others.

Author's additional note: You will note the images posted with this blog are of the area in Aurora where my business is. I am located in an emerging arts district call the East End Arts District. We work together as a group to promote our businesses, art and the community as a place to come visit, hang out and enjoy the little things in life. I hope the pictures tempt you. Every Second Friday we are all open from 4-8pm and I hope to see you there, spending locally and supporting local artists!

www.eastendartsdistrict.org for more information about each venue and what they are doing!

Kim Harrell is the owner of East End Applied Arts gallery and the treasurer/founder of the grass roots organization, East End Artists Association which promotes the district; www.eastendarts.com


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Kim Harrell

Aurora , CO

Kim Harrell has posted 8 blog entries and 0 comments since joining on 2/20/2006. Kim Harrell 's average blog rating is 4.86.
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