Gallery Whack-A-Mole

[David DeCristoforo]

The now viral story of the demise of the famous dleMano Gallery has illuminated what can only be described as a "belly punch" to the "art turning world". But there are many other galleries and there is suddenly a huge hole in "our side" of the market. delMano has long been considered the "go to" gallery for artistic turned pieces. Many other galleries might have been interested in this kind of work had they not had the feeling that delMano had a "lock" on the market. That is suddenly no longer the case. I am finding that galleries which, only a few weeks ago would respond with "That's the kind of stuff that should be in delMano..." are now responding with "That's beautiful work... lets get together and work something out."

There is that old saying that every cloud has a silver lining and I am finding that this one is no exception. I have been contacting galleries in my area and meeting with a much more receptive attitude that I was getting even a short while ago. We have to assume that these galleries are fully aware of the collapse of the delMano gallery and realize that it creates an opportunity for them to capture a piece of a market that they had previously thought of as "locked up".

I just got an invitation to present my work at a very highly respected gallery that, several months ago was not interested enough to even reply to an email. I will be meeting with them next week and I am hopeful that there will be some "salve" here to alleviate the sting of the recent delMano fiasco. Needless to say, I will be looking out for the "usual" pitfalls!

[Steve Schlumpf]

David - I wish you only the best going forward! Your art deserves the spotlight!!

[Roger Chandler]

"Break a leg" ....DD!

[Ken Glass]

David,
This is exciting news for you and your work. I hope it becomes a great partnership for you both. Does anyone know what really happened to cause the Delmano Gallery to close? Never mind, I just read the post by Roger Chandler.

[charlie knighton]

good luck....chin up......go for it

[Jim Underwood]

Glad to hear it David. Despite my teasing about your "Ort onna stick", I think you do some great work. And I hope your future gallery relationships make up for the treatment you and your art suffered in the past.

Just... be careful.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...be careful...."

Umm, yes.... indeed. One thing I was advised about by a "knowledgeable person" is that it's much better to deal with galleries that are located within a reasonable distance. Makes it a lot easier to keep tabs on your stuff!

PS This was not intended to be a "gloat" but more of an encouraging word...

[John Keeton]

David, my guess is the demise of delMano will have far reaching impact within a certain market segment - more so in your area. Hopefully, all of this does work to the benefit of you and others similarly situated. Most areas in the country do not have galleries dedicated totally to wood turned art, and I am not sure what effect, if any, this will have for those venues.

Keep us posted on what comes of this for you!

[Jim Underwood]

It will certainly be interesting to watch what happens in the "art turning world" now... Perhaps something refined will rise from the ashes...

[Bernie Weishapl]

Congrats DD. Your art deserves it. I agree be careful and do your homework.

[Don Alexander]

all the best to you , DD your work definitely deserves to be seen

[Rick Markham]

Congrats David!!! I just read that thread... eye opening for sure. I've been trying to brainstorm a way for us, as turners, to form an artisan network to self promote and sell our work. Maybe DelMano closing is an opportunity for us as artists to change how our side of the industry works! I think we have more than enough smart folks among us that it's possible. It would be interesting to have an artisan based/ run virtual super gallery. I've entertained this idea for quite some time, but the logistics of it I haven't figured out, maybe me mentioning it will spark someone with a simple clever solution.

[Michelle Rich]

keep your wits about you & good luck...

[Tim Rinehart]

Good luck with your upcoming meeting DD, you definitely deserve a spot among other currently respected turners for the work you've done and your ability to translate into a 'series' vision, which many of us (self included) don't do. I think this is something that requires a certain discipline and to me at least, shows well for gallery collections. Not to ever suggest anyone make the same thing twice, as each of your amphora pieces, for example, always seemed to have a little 'twist' on the last one, beside just the variation in wood.
Look forward to hearing your learning experience along the way, and sharing with us as you do.
Oh...the read on DM closing in WoW is an interesting one, and puts things in perspective that you should never take for granted, but may have.

[Mike Cruz]

David...I might be one of the only ones, but don't worry, at least one person actually read your Whack-a-mole thread correctly. I totally read it as a different and positive perspective on the gallery closing. Everyone has seemed understandably quite somber about it. But your thread seemed to say "Hey, look on the bright side...". But people saw it as you gloating about being in a lot more galleries. Odd how so many misread that. I think people see one person's response, and bandwagon onto that...rather than actually reading, understanding, and making an effort to comprehend the OP's intentions.

Look on the bright side, David...at least one person "heard" you. Oh, and congrats (to you AND all the other artistic turners out there that can benefit from the market opening up) on being able to expand into other galleries, reach more people, and hopefully sell more pieces.