Gallery 99 is rethinking art and offering exceptional, affordable art to the world, everything under $99. I am selling photographs and notecards and Maria is selling quilts and potholders (maybe sketches) and a score of gifted artists are offering their work to help sell art to people who want it at prices they can afford. It’s a powerful idea and the show is being put together by some gifted people in Glens Falls, N.Y., and will be held at the Empire State Theatre on South Street from February 10-13. I will be talking about “Creativity and Change: Changing the Narrative for Writers and Artists.” More details from Diane Swanson, who is helping organize the show.
This is a big and new idea. A change from creative lamenting the recession to working to remind people why they need and love art. Creative people need to take responsibility for themselves, just like everyone else, and this show is a big step in that direction. The idea for Gallery 99 – a floating gallery moving from space to space – is itself innovative, and the idea of selling high-quality art for much less money is to me, the beginning of the reconnection between creative people and hard-pressed consumers.
I reject the idea of artists and writers as tormented people who need to be subsidized by the world. We have to make our own way in changing times. That means doing things differently. I’m game. So come by if you can and support the idea that art is important, and we need it. And now, many more people will be able to afford it.