The all-important initial post of my blog!  At the recommendation of one smart young lady, a Ms Tina Yuan, I am starting a blog to track my progress towards opening a small art gallery and boutique in Philadelphia.  Thus far, I have made decent progress in getting together an outline of what I hope to accomplish with my gallery; not a full-fledged business plan as of yet, but definitely something to work with.  here are the highlights: I want cozy, comfortable, accessible - from a price-point perspective; and I want the community to feel welcome.   I want the occasional workshop open to the public.  I want schoolkids to be able to meet artists, artisans and 'makers.'  I want a mix of international and local.  I want color and optimism; diversity and originality.  I want to personally 'like' every item on display... At the outset, my goal was a gallery dedicated to paintings; over the first few weeks I have moved towards a gallery that has some crafts, pottery, women's accessories - handmade scarves and jewelry, possibly lighting, in addition to paintings.

With respect to my approach to buying, I am making small purchases to start.  While my margin will take a hit, I want to test different types of art and merchandise to see what resonates with the customer.  If something does work, I can reach back out to the maker and purchase additional units.

the price-point will be low/medium.  in addition to making collections accessible and affordable, I like the idea of quick turnover, which allows the gallery to feel fresh and will hopefully lead customers back to the gallery on a more frequent basis.

... Progress thus far:

* I MADE MY FIRST PURCHASE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14th.  6 paintings from a brilliant artist from the UK.  very excited.

* Had an awesome meeting this past weekend with an ex-coworker that has started her own clothing line with a friend.  Looking like there is a very good chance I make a purchase from her.

* Went to see a small vacant property on 9th street a few weeks ago.  Rent was higher than anticipated, so I am going to wait to see if the landlord comes down... and at the advice of a friend with experience in this field, I am going to wait on finding a space until my collection of merchandise has more depth.

Whats next?

* get a catalog from an artist I have been talking with in Memphis.  I have a piece of his hanging in my living room.

* find a way to connect with a few painters in Granada, Nicaragua.  the owners of the hotel I stayed at in November have been communicating on my behalf.  fingers crossed.  their work is beautiful.

* research galleries and boutiques in the area to get a better understanding of what makes for a successful store layout.

* have a brewski or twoski. (immediate future)

Last note of my first post: I was very lucky to have worked for a very cool company and to have worked with, and for some fantastic people.  But I want to do my own thing; be my own planner, buyer, marketer and researcher.  I was able to save enough to give this a shot for a year; it certainly means a lifestyle change and a paycut.  But thats cool.

nighty night,

big Chrissy