Introduction

I can't say that I had dreams of opening a gallery since I was little. Back then, I wanted to be a vet or singer depending on the day and what mood I was in. I always loved art, however. I did my first paintings when I was about three years old. My mom framed them and hung them all over our apartment. She would brag to friends and family: "Doesn't this look like a Picasso?" A couple of years ago, I unframed those old pictures, matted them and gave them back to her. She then hung them in her office. I told her that I hoped I produced better art work since I was three years old.

When I finally made it to college, in order to make my family happy and to ease their worried minds that I would grow up to be, quite literally, a starving artist, I began my education in the school of architecture. I made models, drew imaginary buildings in my sketchbook and learned how to print really neatly. My final project in my first year in the program was about local architecture. I went around the city with my camera and photographed how I responded to the buildings I had grown up with. I displayed the photographs with sketches I did of the public spaces that surrounded the architecture. It was a big hit; I got an "A." I had an end of the year conference with my professor and he asked me why I was in the architecture program. After a long pause, he said, "maybe you should be in the Art and Design." He set me up with a councilor in the department, and by the next year, I was majoring in photography and minoring in art history.

I finished school with my BFA and then spent the next year as an assistant to an insurance salesman. My duties consisted of ordering office supplies and trying to find a warranty for our constantly jamming copy machine. It was a depressing year.

I decided my only solution was to go back to school. So I did. Some $40,000 in debt later, I am the proud owner of a masters degree.

I realized that I wanted to open my own space a year after I started working in galleries. Although I was just a lowly gallery assistant, I still felt so cool, bragging to my art school friends that I met this famous artist or I went to get coffee for this curator. I felt like I was a part of something.

I also realized that working in the arts is crazy. You deal with crazy gallery owners, crazy collectors and of course, crazy artists. Hey, it keeps things interesting.

So here's the deal. My goal is to open my own space with a partner (who I hope to introduce to you in the future) or solo, if I have to, by the late summer of 2008. I have little money and no investors (as of yet), so you can watch me grow from nothing into hopefully, a running business. On this blog, I will chronicle the events of trying to get my gallery up and running.

I hope you keep reading.