Turning Point Gallery, University Mall, Chapel Hill: Closing; Outsiders: Art & Collectibles, 718 Iredell St., Durham: Opening.
Turning Point Gallery in Chapel Hill will close its doors at the end of this month. Outsiders: Art & Collectibles opened this past December. Thank heaven for small favors! Whenever an outlet for art closes, the art community is that much poorer; there is one less platform for artistic talent. Whenever a new venue comes to life, we as a community applaud the effort and should vow to do what we can to support it and help it grow.
It was the Second Friday Art Walk, and Garry Meldrum and I talked between customers looking for their favorite piece of art to buy because the gallery was closing. The story of Turning Point Gallery, the brainchild of Jerri and Garry Meldrum, began 10 years ago when Garry, who moved from a Navy background and an Internet company, and Jerri, a data specialist and department head of a clinical research organization, decided to change their pace and open a Chapel Hill gallery.
Their business grew and each year the bottom line was stronger. "We didn't know what we were doing at first," said Garry. "We created a warm interior with nooks and small spaces and began by selling multiples ... and then we moved into unique paintings, bronzes, giclees."
One of their favorite artists is Englishman Simon Bull, who divides his time between England and Carmel, California. Bull produces giclees of large close-ups of wildly colorful flowers on a canvas support; at his openings he will paint a small original, a "remark," on the back that relates directly to the buyer.
Both of the Meldrums are completely comfortable with the technology of the moment and used it to market their shows. Garry was the marketing and corporate manager and Jerri was the "eye." "It is a great combination," he said.
Garry also used his technological savvy to push the Internet envelope, and along with Karen Shelton of Sizl Gallery, created a brand for a monthly art event, Second Friday Art Walk, which would mark University Mall as an art destination point. As we talked it was obvious Garry was very proud of this event and proud of their contributions to the Chapel Hill community.
About 18 months ago, he said he saw a change in patterns of buying. Sales were dropping so they decided to bring in smaller, less expensive art. "That was not the answer," he said. "People buy what they want, but instead of one customer in 11 taking something home, it was one customer in 25."
"We tried all sorts of creative financing, but sales are down and we needed more concessions to restructure our debt. This didn't happen so we have to close."
Jerri and Garry are turning their sights elsewhere. Garry will expand his Business Value Creation business that helps other businesses and communities gain advantages. Jerri is going to become more involved in horse rescue and its promotion and possibly do art consulting, redesign and staging from home.
It took about 30 minutes to drive from the plush elegant Turning Point Gallery down 15-501 to Pamela Gutlon's Outsiders, a gallery set in the neat living room of a clapboard company house. (At one time Irwin Cotton Mill workers lived in such houses and paid $1 a week rent.) It took even more psychological adjustment on my part to move my head from giclee prints and elegant bronzes to Robert Dinger's mirrors beautifully mitered and nailed in frames from recycled wood, to Mark May's robots made from screws, caps, buttons and other throw-away stuff, to Bart Schultz's wonderful skinny figures made of masking tape, to the flat, floating figures by Jimmy Lee Suddath and Mose Tolliver.
Outsider art is a term coined in the 1970s to describe the creative work of artists who are self-taught and not formally trained. It is also called folk or primitive art. Gutlon grew up with her mother's collection of New England folk art and has always loved it. She came to Durham to be with her mother, Audrey Chase, when she became ill and then died.
She has stayed because she is comfortable here. Her gallery comes after a long stint as operations director of the John Hope Franklin Center. Ginger Young, a friend in Chapel Hill, encouraged her to open a gallery with outsider art. Young would be one of her suppliers, Gutlon's own collection would be another source and then she would contact collectors of artists who have died, like Suddath and Tolliver, and see if they want to sell. She also contacts young promising artists all the time.
We sat surrounded by what is truly a fairyland of odd creatures, all benign, and talked about a "business model." She laughed and said that for the time being, she just wants to sell one object so she can buy another. She also said, "My definition of success is health and happiness; life is too short not to do what you love."
She plans open houses once a month and will feature an artist each time. Her first two openings were huge successes. "I won't be in this space forever; I'll outgrow it. It's a great first space. It's the right size and the right location."
We are glad she is here. Support her by going by and getting a lesson in Outsider Art.
Blue Greenberg's column appears each week in Entertainment and More. She can be reached at blueg@bellsouth.net or by writing her in c/o The Herald-Sun, P.O. Box 2092, Durham, NC 27702.
