Heavenly Beverley : Artists Coming Out Of Our Ears...

Sunday 8 April 2018

Artists Coming Out Of Our Ears...

The East End Gallery offers one hundred and fifty square metres of space to promote the work of our artists and artisans. Never in my wildest dreams did I envisage the issue at hand. We have been consistently full for the last two years. There are times I feel we are running out of space.

Except we always prevail. No more room on the walls? Buy a few easels. We refuse to have artworks stacked up against each other. We have been to galleries where this has been the case. Seriously. They will run a one-man show and put aside their bread and butter, piling the temporarily excluded art pieces one against the other. We once found a painting by Shane Moad on the floor in a hallway next to the staff loo...

We know all our artists. We have been into galleries where they also run a cafe with a barista. Great coffee, but a complete inability to tell guests about the displayed art. We currently promote sixty-two artists. I know each and every one of them. I know their passions, their stories, their idiosyncrasies. I have to know them. Otherwise, I would not have the necessary connection.

We support Wheatbelt artists. Our mission statement. Our mantra. We have spread our wings a bit, now promoting artists from the Perth Hills to Balladonia on the edge of the Nullabor. However, we need to understand why they chose the East End Gallery to display their art.

We have no capital behind us. But then, neither do most artists. If we charged weekly rent or space by the square metre, many of our artists would not be able to afford to share their work. Which defeats the purpose of discovering new artists.

Running a gallery is not for the faint-hearted. We own the building, which is how we stay afloat. By owning the building, we never have to resort to the Hard Sell. That would be anathema. But our artists need that recognition. Most of them have Day Jobs, to supplement lack of income from their art. Most of them long to have more time to follow their passions.

Support living artists, please. The dead ones don't need it.

We have a number of newer artists. These are their names -

Fiona Guy
Craig Robertson
Rob Pampling
Emily Lucas
Dave Conlin.

We also have new works coming in all the time. And after three years, we are becoming better known. A day trip from Perth. A stopover for grey nomads. A handy break en route to the South Coast or the Goldfields. We are welcoming guests for the second, third, fourth time. We are finding ourselves being recommended to new guests. We are actually selling pieces for our artists. And I am tentatively recommending that our guests consider layby if they have fallen in love with a particular artwork. Because they may be disappointed if another guest buys it. This situation occurred just this week.

Wow.