The art of space: design details are critical, say gallery owners

What do gallery holders want customers to notice first on entering their "space"? Art Business of recent origins posed this question, and several other "space-related" queries to gallery possessors from five states to learn more about "the art" of designing galleries.

exhibited in this article (the first part of a two-part feature) are the views of Jody Ensign, Susan Manchee and Nina Pedersen co-owner of the Basalt Gallery, Basalt, CO; Nance Frank, proprietor The Gallery on Greene, lock opener West, FL; Deborah Greet and Patti Schwarz, co-owner of River Gallery Fine Art, Chelsea, MI; Richard Michelson, possessor R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton, MA; and Philip Salvato, possessor 3rd Street Gallery, Carnegie, PA.

When a customer penetrates your gallery, what is the first thing you confidence that he or she notices?

Nance Frank (The Gallery upon Greene, Key West, FL): Great art, of course!

Jody Ensign (Basalt Gallery, Basalt, CO): The three forehead main walls, works by our primary artists, of recent origin paintings and the variety of exhibited works. The forehead room is also where we hang an opening for single to three artists, while the back of the gallery is usually for a grouping of all the artists that we carry.

Philip Salvato (3rd highway Gallery, Carnegie, PA): Our main entrance has a large and colorful 4- x 8-foot painting of Station Square at night with a grand piano in brow The welcoming feeling of the gallery's large make open space encourages customers to relax, tender twigs of shrubs and trees and converse with gallery staff.

Richard Michelson (R Michelson Galleries, Northampton, MA): Since we have 60-foot high ceilings, the first thing greatest in quantity customers do when entering the gallery space is stop and direct the eye up. Once they adjust to the scale of the gallery, we reliance that they will notice the wide variety of artwork; and that this is a comfortable place to lay out an hour or two browsing.

Deborah Greer (River Gallery Fine Art, Chelsea, MI): The design is intended to be unclose and the immediate visual impact, stunning. The gallery is in a renovated 3,200-square-foot building built in 1898 The windows are large; the ceilings are high; and there is plenteous space and light. Individual works have space to 'breathe' and can be viewed without distraction. We ofttimes place large paintings or plastic arts in, or adjacent to, the tall windows that face the way on both the first and next to the first levels of our gallery. This adds visual drama when viewed from the way especially when lit at night. Because we have ample wall space and have designed moveable walls, we are able to 'create dialogue' among individual artworks, arrange exciting groupings and show art thematically.

Please describe your wall coverings/wall surfaces and in what way they complement and/or accentuate your art.

Nina Pedersen (Basalt Gallery, Basalt, CO): The perimeter wall is a light sand color and the floating center feature wall is a medium virid The contemporary textures on drywall are simple. And none of the wing walls is shorter than five feet

Richard Michelson: I still believe in white painted walls because white is the greatest in quantity versatile color for a wide variety of work, and because we rotate the artwork frequently

Nance Frank: Hopefully they won't notice the clean lines, just the art.

Philip Salvato: All of our walls are flat plaster, but accent walls are painted with a warm color and/or a faux web to bring them forward and to create a stopping point during browsing. The trim is also painted a different color, leading the organ of sight through the gallery.

Deborah Greer: Our first horizontal had been a motorcycle restoration business, and the next to the first level was empty and in shambles. All the walls were a mes We knew from scraping away the surface that there were brick walls beneath. It was tempting to make bare the old, soft, red brick walls. These walls may have added a great deal of charm to any other retail business, on the other hand we opted for dry wall because we rehang the gallery oftentimes and thought that the dried wall provided the kind of surface necessary to quota most art and to allow for easy 'touch-up' repairs when necessary. We did, however, paint single large wall a gray-green color. All art gazes good when hung against that background color. We also set uped a large diagonal wall upon the first level to add drama and additional hanging space. This wall is painted terra cotta and greatest in quantity art "pops" with this color. The quiet of the walls are a traditional gallery white, as are the moveable walls. Behind the terra cotta wall is an art storage area, where visitors can thrust around and explore (with staff assistance) those paintings and works of art that are temporarily bilboed away.

Please discuss your choice of floor coverings and by what means they enhance the overall gallery experience for your customers.

Susan Manchee (Basalt Gallery, Basalt, CO): We have pigmented solidify in a high-gloss dark chocolate color with sum of two units large area rugs for unmutilated absorption and a shot of r and ivory accent color, giving it a faculty of perception of 'hominess.'