Coos Bay, Oregon - the gallery that we show in!

COOS BAY, OREGON - GALLERY NOW CARRYING BROWN FAMILY ART WORK!

Well, we made our trip to Oregon to deliver our art work. It has been an extremely fast trip. The drive   from Chico was 7 hours each way. The gallery has 192 pieces of inventory for our art. The piece shown here is one of the pieces of inventory at The Fellowship (at 217 South Broadway, Coos Bay, OR). Don Carter has  a huge space for his new bookstore/gallery/cofffee shop. He is located on the main drag, which is  Broadway (and  also doubles as Highway 101). This gallery has a huge selection of books, art of all kinds, and a coffee shop soon to come. If anyone is familiar with Barnes and Noble and  the ambience they try to achieve with their set-up, then this would  be a good comparison. This is a gallery/shop that is trying to get its customers to come in, look around hangout, read, and stay awhile. I feel The  Fellowhip is well on its way to achieving enormous  potential. I may be slightly partial since my art and my family's art is set-up there, I believe I am selective enough that I am picking a qquality place that will give great customer service to the people. Our art is about reaching  the community. I believe that this place will reach the people because it is geared to reach the people. As with any place, we want to be able to reach the local community, as well as the tourists that visit there  as well.

As I type this blog I am in a moving  car going back to Chico, CA. What I can type here is  limited, but  I will give a full description and account of our experience once we reach  home. There are many   things to share and tell. Coos Bay has a strong resemblance to  another coastal artist community in California - Fort Bragg, CA. Fort Bragg, CA is a favorite vacation spot for my family and me. So,  we are even more pleased with  our opportunity to work with Don and his wife in opening this new gallery since it is like a place we love to visit and spend time.

With some perseverance, an art gallery and its artists can help resound as a voice in the community, as well as be part of that community. It is my personal goal to try to understand what the community and tourists would like to see and what ressonates  with them as we move forward at The Fellowship. Don tries hard to work with his artists, and I think artists should try to work wiith their gallery as long as they are able to stay within their own style.

Of course, this brings to mind the controversial conversation about the meaning and message of art. Honestly, is their such a thing as "high art" and "low art"? Do we really have to get into that rotating  discussion about what  the message is about? Look, I read the art critics in the art journals. I look to see what is being displayed in the major art centers around the US. I realize if you show  in NYC or LA at some major gallery, you can garner a lot of recognition. However, I do not need a high priced art afficionado's personal approval to validate my art. I would value their feedback the same as a customer who pays $10 to get one of the pictures in my Trading Card Series. Any good artist will combine general feedback with their method of  operation and creating work in order to move forward and improve. For  myself and  my family, we are a family of artists who have been doing this for generations. We learn from each other and shape our work  and  message based on how we work together and respond to our environment and opportunities. Art is about connecting with your audience. We all choose our own genre of influence and that is how it should be. This is a chance for us to connect with the people and tourists of the Coos Bay area of Oregon. It is a chance for us to share our point of view and art with them. To me, that is what makes art worthwhile, just sharing the vision and message of each artist.

Next Sunday, I will be interviewing Don Carter for my blog. He and I will have a discussion about his gallery, the community of Coos Bay, and and what it looks like to bring art to a community and make a business thrive. I hope to also capture his unique point of view on what he is trying to create for both community and artists.

Stay tuned.