Slowing the Crawl?
Art community members speak out about closing of gallery

Gallery 211 manager Rossi Bright stands amid some of the pieces on display in downtown Gallup on Friday. The gallery is closing its doors. Feb. 19 will be the last day it is open to the general public. (Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent)

By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff Writer

GALLUP — With the closing of Gallery 211, Michael Nunes believes Gallup is about to lose a "pearl without price."

Nunes and other individuals involved in Gallup's art community were interviewed about Gallery 211's closing, the impact the closing will have on the monthly Arts Crawl, and the future of Gallup's fine arts community.

Nunes is the owner of Primal Image Gallery and Primal Image T-Shirts, two arts-related businesses on Coal Avenue. His businesses, like Gallery 211, participate in downtown Gallup's monthly Arts Crawl evenings. "I really hope there's an eleventh hour reprieve somehow," Nunes said.

Since its opening in July 2001, Gallery 211 has been operated by Disability Services Inc., a private, nonprofit corporation serving people with disabilities in McKinley County. In addition to functioning as a fine art gallery and hosting monthly receptions for local artists and their shows, Gallery 211 has operated an open art studio for individuals with disabilities.

According to a recent letter written by DSI Executive Director Ellen Lacayo to gallery members, the current funding climate in New Mexico made it necessary for DSI to close the doors of Gallery 211.

'Artist friendly'
Local painter and muralist Be Sargent echoed Nunes' hope that something could be done to save the gallery. She has requested to be on the agenda of the next city council meeting and is looking for others interested in participating in a presentation to city leaders. Artists are already talking about organizing an arts co-op, Sargent added, although she believes the quality of the gallery would decline if it were run as a co-op.

Sargent thinks a good solution would be for Gallup to resurrect a local arts council that could receive government arts funding. Unfortunately, she said, such an arts council would have to deal with the legal legacy of the Gallup Area Arts Council that folded its Red Mesa Arts Center after struggling with internal disputes, embezzlement, and a lawsuit.

Sargent is concerned the developing arts environment of Coal Avenue might deteriorate once Gallery 211 closes its doors. "It's just stabilizing that whole area," she said. Contributing to that stabilization, she added, was the equal access to the art community Gallery 211 provided disabled citizens.

Andrew Butler, another Gallup painter and muralist, agreed. "To put them (disabled artists) on the same level as other artists was a progressive idea," he said. Calling Gallery 211 "very artist friendly," Butler said the gallery helped all local artists who sold their work there because of its policy to only keep a 25 percent commission fee - much lower than most galleries.

Potential arts district
Everyone interviewed expressed the hope that the Arts Crawl would survive Gallery 211's closing. But Nunes admitted he was concerned that the closing would have a "domino effect" on other Coal Avenue businesses involved in the monthly event.

With Gallery 211's closing, Sargent said, there would only be three primary venues for contemporary artists to show their work: The Coffee House, Crashing Thunder Gallery, and Primal Image Gallery. Other businesses participate on an irregular basis, and a number of smaller galleries and businesses have opened and closed since the Arts Crawl began a few years ago.

Nunes believes the existing galleries and the Arts Crawl have planted the seeds for a potential arts district in downtown Gallup. He would like to see Gallup's current "mishmash" of a downtown redesigned around "arts, entertainment, and food" through the establishment of locally owned restaurants, cafes, boutiques, galleries, and entertainment venues.

What's important, he said, is zoning the downtown to create such an arts district, the establishment of a downtown business association, and having Gallup's image reworked and upscaled to attract more tourists.

"There's millions of tourist dollars driving by here every day that are not being captured,"Nunes said. Gallup is missing out on the lucrative tourism business by allowing the historic downtown to deteriorate and get "stuccoed over," he added, while at the same time not developing its potential to become an arts district.

"It's the Bohemian funk that attracts tourists," he said.

Dedication to art
But how supportive is the Gallup community of fine arts outside of the Native American arts and crafts market?

"There aren't art collectors here," said Butler. "People around here don't see art as something important," he added. Based on conversations he has had with a number of Indian arts and crafts dealers, Butler said many of them don't see how promoting a fine arts community in Gallup would help enhance their market.

"I think it would be complementary," he said.

But in spite of that lack of interest, Butler said, he believes Gallup has a "wonderful" arts community of artists and gallery owners and most have a strong dedication to creating and promoting fine art. That dedication, he said, will continue to cause the local art community to grow, even in the light of Gallery 211's closing.

Butler, Nunes, and Sargent all expressed the hope that downtown Gallup would see more galleries in the future. Butler, however, admitted he was having a difficult time imagining a future downtown Arts Crawl without Gallery 211.