New show is
Truckee Gallery’s last hurrah
Artists’ collective to reopen on Internet
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The
Truckee Gallery has been run as a guild by 23 local
artists. The gallery has recently announced it will
close Nov. 25. The gallery showcases art of all media,
including these portraits by Andrew Jaeger.
Seth Lightcap/Sierra Sun
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Check It Out |
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What:
Truckee Gallery opening reception
Who: Artists Grog Verbeck and Carole
Gegenheimer
When: 5-7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 9. Show
continues through Nov. 25.
Where: 10950 Industrial Way, Suite
B102, Truckee
Phone: 559-9773 |
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By Patrick McCartney
Sierra Sun,
November 8, 2007
The Truckee Gallery will feature the
work of two artists of contrasting styles in a show that opens Friday
night with a reception.
The exhibit showcases Grog Verbeck’s hand-chipped flint and obsidian
sculptures and Carole Gegenheimer’s meticulous western paintings and
still lifes.
Their work supplements the gallery’s large collection of paintings,
ceramics and sculptures contributed by the 23 members of the artist
guild that has run the gallery since last December.
Regardless of its success, the current show will be the gallery’s last
hurrah, as its founders plan to close the Industrial Way facility on
Nov. 25. Those closest to the gallery said the lack of foot traffic at
the gallery’s industrial location was the key to the gallery’s financial
woes.
Since its opening Dec. 7, the Truckee Gallery has offered Sierra artists
a sense of community as well as an outlet for their best work. Located
next door to the Carole Sesko Contemporary Art studio, the Truckee
Gallery offered Truckee-Tahoe residents their own arts district over the
past year.
But the enthusiasm of local art lovers was not enough to sustain the
guild’s retail gallery.
“We’ve gotten a fabulous amount of interest,” said Eileen Nagle, one of
the gallery and guild’s four founding members, in a phone interview
Thursday. “People love coming to look at the art, but we’re also linked
to the economy, and people are not buying art. We hate to close, but the
timing is not right.”
Nagle said she and fellow founder Mary Lou Cooper plan to continue their
work in their home studios. Another founding member, Teresa Wik, expects
to open a her own ceramics studio on West River Drive, Nagle said.
Just one year ago, the founders put out a call for area artists to join
a guild, and nearly two dozen signed up. The artists were asked to work
a shift at the gallery once a month, and to serve on one of the guild’s
several committees.
On Thursday, Ed Hallberg of Auburn, a retired university dean who now
devotes his time to charcoals, mosaics and oil paintings, showed a
visitor around the gallery’s expansive exhibit rooms. Hallberg said he
was quick to embrace the guild’s goal to serve the area’s artistic
community.
“There’s a lot of talent here,” Hallberg said. “Before it was a silent
art community. Given a chance to emerge, the artists were willing to
make a large commitment. It was very inspirational for the artists, very
spiritual.”
Nagle said a few of the guild’s members remained committed to the artist
cooperative even in the face of slow sales, because of the community it
offered.
“We’re providing something to the artists, not just a venue to sell
their art,” Nagle said. Among its resources, the gallery provided its
members a pottery studio and workshops, and offered occasional classes.
Members of the guild have talked about establishing the Truckee Gallery
as an online presence, featuring the work of each artist. Some members
have also suggested affiliating with Sierra College once it opens its
new Truckee campus.
Nagle said the guild has taken no action with regard to its future, but
the members plan to meet and brainstorm about the possibilities.
Next door on Thursday afternoon, Sesko was preparing her next show,
Party of Three, which opens on Dec. 7. Sesko described the Truckee
Gallery as “wonderful neighbors” who had also become good friends.
“I felt honored to have been next door,” Sesko said. “I don’t feel the
gallery was a failure. It was a great venture, and there will be
benefits that come from it.”
