Tampa Bay Times
There’s a timeless appeal in browsing a museum or strolling through an art gallery.
But people are busy. They don’t always have time to sit, to analyze, to appreciate. They’re running into a shop for a quick latte, they’re downing beers with friends after a hard week at work.
Wouldn’t it be nice to experience art, kind of … accidentally?
Look around. More and more restaurant, bar and coffee house owners are hosting painters, photographers and sculptors, offering the stark walls of their facilities as a commission-free gallery. Local artists get exposure and make sales. Shop owners get free decor, plus a slate of fresh customers who may be friends with the artists.
It also opens unexpected eyes.
“Some people find the gallery scene intimidating and don’t go in because they feel uneducated about art or pressured to buy,” said Coralette Damme, a.k.a. the Crafty Hag, an artist and printmaker who has shown work in several coffee shops around town. “Those venues may be harder for an artist to get their work into, as well.”
Tags: 20110118
