The art of selling art: Gallery owners talk about what's going on, how the market looks today, and what lies ahead - The Art Business - New Mexico's art industry review

New Mexico Business Journal, Jan-Feb, 2002 by Suzanne Deats

NEW MEXICO'S ART MARKET Continues to thrive after many decades of economic swings, demographic shifts, and changing tastes. It will probably remain stable for decades to come, thanks to the natural beauty, exotic lifestyle, and multicultural ambiance. The art business is more important than many realize -- not just because it is life-enhancing, but because it contributes substantially to the state's overall economic health.

Those who sell art have had to be both cautious and innovative when addressing the realities of supply and demand. They have all, in various ways, relied on New Mexico's art history that began over a hundred years ago with the arrival of established East Coast artists. Drawn by the legendary light and landscape as well as the centuries-old Indian and Spanish art forms, they settled in and began sending their work back to their New York galleries, creating a market for early Taos art that is still booming.

The mid-twentieth century saw a rise in tourism and the establishment of the current gallery scene. A dramatic increase in tourism in the 1980s and 1990s brought a widely diversified group of galleries, a good many of them lasting only a season or two, but they left in their wake a broader range of art that caters both to informed collectors and casual visitors who are looking for a little piece of the famous Santa Fe style.

Albuquerque has a vigorous art scene anchored by the University of New Mexico and the Albuquerque Museum, but the number of galleries is relatively small because of the commercial dominance of Santa Fe and Taos. Albuquerque is the home of the Collector's Guide, now in its fifteenth year. This handsome periodical, accompanied by its active website (www.collectorsguide.com), provides a comprehensive overview of the galleries in Taos, Santa Fe, and Albuquerque.

Mary Ann Weems, who opened her Albuquerque gallery twenty years ago, has her own formula for success. Her space, located in a strip mall, is set up like an arts and crafts show with a casual, unintimidating atmosphere. Her annual Weems Artfest hosts celebrity artists at the State Fairgrounds. Her collectors, many of them local, come from all walks of life. Weems, a fervent populist, makes sure "everyone can afford to buy art in Albuquerque."

Gallup, on the western edge of the state, is the most active market for Indian arts and crafts. A brisk business is also done in the major tourist spots and by the pueblos themselves. Las Vegas, in the northeast, has a small but energetic art scene, as does Las Cruces to the south. Dixon, a north central village, has a twenty-year-old annual studio tour in November that supports some of its artists year round. Other small places have followed suit. Mountainair, an isolated southeastern community, has a brilliant array of artists who support several art galleries and a public exhibition space called Art Alley. Madrid, on the Turquoise Trail south of Santa Fe, is a resurrected ghost town devoted almost entirely to art galleries. Scattered throughout the state are other little pockets of activity that add excitement for visitors and revenues for New Mexico.

The Taos/Santa Fe corridor has remained the major axis of the art market. Hundreds of galleries come and go; dozens weather the decades and continue to offer quality art to visitors from surrounding states and, increasingly, from all over the world. Taos has its rich history, carefully preserved in the Harwood and Millicent Rogers museums and in several homes of early Taos artists that are open to the public. Observers have noted that Taos has handled its recent growth very well. The art being offered today is of a high quality and the fine restaurants and shops provide additional amenities to the art consumer.

Taos has as its base a number of long-running and influential galleries. They include Shriver, Dearing, McCormick, and Gallery A, according to the Variant Gallery's current owner, Diane Grimshaw. Like many gallery owners, she finds that business has been affected by the September 11 events, partly because of the stock market. A larger percentage of her clientele now drives in from surrounding states. She relies increasingly on her website (www.variantgallery.com) but also takes a vigorous part in promoting the community as a whole. "We're trying to be progressive but keep the 'sleepy little village' feeling intact," she says.

In Santa Fe, home of the state museum system, the past ten years have seen the opening of the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, SITE Santa Fe, and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, all of which add luster to the dynamic commercial scene. Several major galleries have anchored the market for twenty years or more, either under their present names or by virtue of having owner/directors who have been a strong part of the art community. The most successful are the ones who have the ability to move with the times. LewAllen Contemporary hosts excellent shows by a staggering number of artists from all over. Linda Durham deals only in New Mexico artists and has taken their work to the rest of the world. Munson, whose family opened its first gallery on the East Coast in the mid-nineteenth century, shows increasingly modern work based on landscape. Dewey began with Indian arts and crafts and later, with partner Nat Owings, concentrated on American art in general. Shidoni is an enormous sculpture gallery and foundry n orth of town.