SWEET and SOUR WEIGH IN:
First, praising the youngsters’ rollicking and wild efforts at Hansford Street in the last blog was certainly not intended as a diss to Sherry Lovett and the recent swan song of her era at the Art Store (as one or two commentators opined). Nor to the new owner Lisa Fischer Casto, and her new staff including Mimi Dinsmore in Ellie Schaul’s role. We were just simply remarking on two openings in one weekend that indicated two changing of the guards in this town’s art scene.

The Hansford Street show marked a new effort by mostly very new names — a breaking show of some of the newest voices. It’s a welcome new space with a welcome new vibe. And a mostly brand new new guard. Sure, other places have done similar things for some time but not here, with this much press and interest. Nice to see it happening. Look forward to what happens next on Hansford Street and watching how some of these new talents develop.

Plus, several posts ago, we gave Sherry Lovett, Elie Schaul and their staff a lifetime achievement for what they have done for the arts. To quote from that post:

“Hope the new administration does as well as Sherry Lovett and Ellie and gang have done over the years… We all owe copious thanks to them for bringing into being a lot of the arts experiences we regularly enjoy today.

Along with Gallery Eleven, they were two of the first arts organizations called out as deserving of appreciation for their lifetime of support for local artists and arts organizations. Not everyone agreed with this, but we stand by it. We noted that a lot of arts-related things happening today were started by Sherry and Ellie back in the day. We can only hope the new staff of the Art Store can follow in Sherry, Ellie and Betty’s lead. The Art Store is a tony OLD SCHOOL first-rate art gallery. It is what is it. South Hillls. Yes. Upper crust. Check. But exemplary of old-school excellence.

For decades, the Art Store has presented and inculcated excellent art by local, national and international artists. We can think of few who have even come close to presenting such a professional and successful gallery. Callen McJunkin is one, Marilyn Cooper in Lewisburg is another. But the Art Store wins hands down for the longest continuously open and stellar old-school art gallery. They’ve had an incredible run. The shows have always been installed and presented consistently with a near perfect lay out and educational information. It’s not a perfect space to show art, but the Art Store women have always made the space seem like a better display space than it is.

The fact they’ve been in business for so long says something. That says something amazing in itself. They created their market and sold to it consistently and gave many of the finest names in the regional art world their start: Diane White, Susan Poffenbarger, David Riffle, Robin Hammer and Chris Dutch, just to name some of the luminaries from their stable of artists. If the new staff can continue the successes of the Art Store, they will be legendary. There has been a changing of the guard there. Sherry Lovett, Elie Schaul and staff are handing over the most successful, respected and often feared arts spaces in the state to the next generation of Lisa Fischer Casto, Mimi Dinsmore and the rest of the staff.

For our part, here’s hoping the legacy of The Art Store continues to impress for generations to come. There’s certainly a place for everything that the Art Store is and has been in this region’s art scene. This town needs and deserves both the new blood and energy of an art space like the Hansford Street Gallery AND the excellence of old school elegance and perfection (if indeed, sometimes cut-throat elegance and perfection) of The Art Store.

On a complementary note, go see the Robin Hammer and Chris Dutch installation at the Clay Center this Thursday at the monthly Charleston Art Walk. It will be free and part of a number of spaces offering something interesting and community minded this week. Hammer and Dutch do a good job handling the massive spaces in the Clay Center’s art galleries. No small feat. We’ll take that up in a post or two. Weigh in with your thoughts. S & S.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.