Art at work
Boston Business Journal - by Chelsea Lowe Special To The Journal
Would-be buyers chatted with artists and nibbled on hors d'oeuvres as works on display were discussed, admired and sold. It might have been a toney gallery rather than the suburban office of a software development company.
To celebrate a move to larger quarters in Waltham this spring, managers at Gold Wire Technology Inc. decided to hold a different kind of open house in April. Together with a former employee and the newly formed Call To Artists collaborative, the company held an art exhibit and reception.
"We could work with the artists' community in the Waltham area and bring ... our growing company and (local artists) together in a way that wasn't normally done," said Sue Lonergan, Gold Wire's director of marketing.
Call To Artists, an organization that aims to unite artists with buyers as well as provide exhibition space, was established in Somerville just this past February, but conducted a pilot program with the company in March 2000 "to test the waters," said Pete Mellor, founder of CTA and Gold Wire's former director of operations.
CTA grew out of the Washington Street Arts Center in Somerville, said Amy Walsh, who founded that organization and whose landscapes and whimsical self-portraits appear in Gold Wire's current exhibit through early May.
In cooperation with the Washington Street center, Mellor said, the first exhibit brought together 24 artists to present a handful of pieces of their works for installation in the office. Participants, Mellor said, sold more than $8,000 worth of artwork--and the money went straight into the artists' hands.
Company employees and their friends and family members also contributed artwork, and they will be encouraged to do so at future shows, organizers said.
A rotating art collection gives emerging artists exposure while giving customers, business associates and investors "an opportunity to see what's going on in the community," Lonergan said.
"One of the hardest parts about being an artist is finding a place to show your artwork," said Sarah Sentilles, one of CTA's exhibiting painters and a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School.
Exhibition space can be costly, especially for developing artists.
Sentilles serves on a committee that helps coordinate art exhibits at a Somerville cafe.
"The problem," she said, "is getting exposure to people who have money to buy art."
Gold Wire's first show was also "the first time I ever sold a painting," Sentilles said, "and it was very exciting."
Participating artists, Walsh said, are "paid directly, without having to pay commission--which is an incredible opportunity, especially for emerging artists."
Companies pay for the installation. The recent inaugural show cost about $200 for five weeks and included 40 pieces. The price is expected to rise to about $400 for future exhibits. Lonergan said her company hopes to feature new artwork every five to six weeks.
Local conceptual artist Sandy Goldberg, whose work often examines the relationship between art and commerce, cautioned would-be exhibitors about possible pitfalls.
"I've heard a lot about these things," she said, "each going for a few weeks and then fizzling out."
Goldberg agreed that works by unknowns can cost little and help rising artists "to get public feedback."
However, she added, while the idea may be well-intentioned, artists usually pay enormous costs for framing, materials and other expenses, while the company is "getting the better end of the deal (with) free interior decoration every six weeks.
"It would be different if they were paying a significant honorarium," she said.
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