The Evolution of an Art Gallery Business: Emma Wilson

I can't think of a better person to have a conversation regarding creativity with than Emma Wilson, who is the director of the Portland Art Gallery and someone that you will recognize from past podcasts, but also from her wonderful artist remarks that she does on a monthly basis with the Portland Art Gallery. Or I guess welcoming remarks I should say. Thanks for coming in Today. Thanks for having me, Lisa. Good to see you. Good to see you. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Thanks. So I think I've been really fortunate to have a front row seat to the work that you've been doing with the Portland Art Gallery over what has it been now? 6, 7, 20 15? Yeah, so it's been whatever the math is on that Seven years. Oh my goodness. They're 7, 8, 8, 8 years in August. So that's a long time to be working for one organization, obviously, but specifically a small business in Maine. And I know we've talked about before your past background with arts, with the Arts, I should say, with art in general. Also, you have a background as a social worker, you have a lot of work that you've done with nonprofits, but you've done this work with the Portland Art Gallery long enough now that you've sort of seen this evolution of a business. And as the evolution occurs, you have to continually be refreshing things with new artists and new approaches and new things that are coming up to keep it interesting and fun. So what is new and interesting and fun with the Portland Art Gallery these days? Yes, so I think with the small business, there's the external factors that are new and that change, and then there's sort of the internal ones. So we had some external factors over the last four years, for example, with Covid. So we sort of had to work on some of our internal changes to adapt and grow within that. But then within our own gallery community, we're always looking and wondering about what it is that we want, how we want to reach a growing audience, or how we want to expand artists and their different mediums and expand, just expand all of our understanding about what's out there in the creative world. And so in 2023, we did had some additions to our artist roster. And so that created a lot of excitement. It continues to in terms of hearing about new approaches and then also just the enthusiasm towards their work. So for example, if I think of someone like Laura Razek, I know that she has been on the show and that you know her, but Laura, she is so impressive in the way that she manifested what it is that she wanted to have happen and what a lesson for all of us that she just is dedicated and works and manifested. The fact that she wanted to put it out there to whatever it is that she believes in and just follow through and has continued to follow through and has started to create these relationships with other people within the gallery community, is starting to sell her artwork and realize and feel what that means for her. And also wanting that connection with community. So someone that is just, I learned and took away from how much she put of herself into that decision and then how she followed through and made that happen. And she's an interesting example, not only of somebody who has manifested, because I think that when she and I last spoke, she said, well, I decided I wanted to be represented by a gallery and this was the year, and I decided to go forward and put myself out there, which obviously is taking a chance. But I've also seen her art evolve a hundred percent. And she puts a lot of time and effort into thinking about art differently, not only in a way that resonates with her own self, but also with others. So she's done a lot of work with people and animals and portraiture, but flowers. And really what she does with her florals is just continuing to be even bigger and more flamboyant and interesting. And I always try to encourage artists to not paint for their viewer or for the perspective buyer and paint for what it is that they love. But sometimes it's also there's a validation or some guidance or parameters that gives people, if they start to feel and understand what is resonating for them. So if it's a personal commission for a portraiture of a dog of your child or whatever, that makes a lot of sense. But if there's something that you're trying to reach or connect with people in a different audience or a larger audience, then sometimes you pay attention to that, especially early on. Although then there's pros like someone like Jane Damon who will continue to expand or try different approaches to her work and reach out, just create things in a different way, always sort of challenging herself. And she's certainly very well established as an artist. Yeah. And I know that my gauge is always like, my parents watch this podcast and my mom and dad will also watch the emails that come through the gallery pretty closely. My dad will say, well, I see that you have in your upcoming opening these particular artists, and he'll connect with me on those. And my mom seems to connect with things on a really emotional level. So she connected with Laura's work, she said, I've seen the work that she does, and it's really wonderful. I really love it. And my mom doesn't necessarily have an artistic background, but I think just the fact that there was something about that that really called to her and then I think speaks to what it is the gallery's trying to do. You're actually trying to connect people with the work of artists that appeals to them and causes them to want to put it, bring it into their home. Yeah. Well, I think about Christopher O'Connor. So Christopher O'Connor was introduced to us through a fellow artist, deland, Vander Scaff, grew up in Belfast, grew up in Ireland, moved to Maine and has this connection with the topography and the coastline of those two places. That sense of place for him is so a part of his soul and his fiber. So he has this opening this past year, and it is the way in which his work connected with people around that sense of place was amazing. Definitely just people, I think his heart came out of his work in terms of that sense of place. And also that's what people were feeling. That's what they wanted. That's where that emotional connection, like you talk about your mom has, and then someone like Brian Emerson, who's newer to us, who has a show in January of 2024, that's his first show ever. And actually Laura has a show coming up in 2024 too, but Brian is part of this expansive lineage of artists. I mean, Philip Barter, how much more iconic in Maine can you actually get? And so Philip is his father-in-law and has been a huge influence in Brian's work, but has also supported Brian in finding his own voice and his own palette and his own way of sort of representing his world as he sees and experiences it as an artist. And so Brian hanging his work, the palate is slightly different, but it's just as he says, it's like, this is my life the last six months, this is it. And so there's images of Mac worth island, there's images of Portland, there's images of Sullivan area, there's images of his mother-in-law's windows. There's all these places that are so dear and you can feel them. And even though you can feel that connection and to Philip's work to some degree, it's really just, it's like a beautiful thing. It's just a familial connection and it just feels like a lot of love in the room with their work on view together. But Brian's finding his own voice, Brian is, and he has, and he's going to continue, and it's going to be really, really fun. It already is so much fun to work with him, and it's just going to be is exciting to see where that's going to go. I think that in talking to Brian earlier last year, I guess it is now, it was interesting too to hear that although he does have the of not only Phil, but also Matt barter in this very significant main artistic family, I love the fact that they created a space for him so that he could really be himself. They weren't saying, you need to be like us, but you can tell that they're willing to share the expertise that they have. And I think that that really is important for an emerging artist because there's a lot of benefit to experience and you can't get experience unless you've done something for a while. So you kind of need people around you that have that experience. I completely agree. And knowing, getting to know that family better and better can see how much they support and try to elevate each one of them within there. And there's a lot of creative energy within that family. And I think that also expands to our artist community in general, like our openings in terms of when there are new or artists or when there are people that have just known each other for a while, there's a lot of conversation and trying to lift each other up. If the artists, I mean, it is a very competitive industry, we know that, but they really do lift each other up and try to encourage and help each other grow and give each other feedback and they talk to each other outside of it. It's an important component of the gallery community is having the artists really take care of each other and pull each other up because it helps all of us to do that for sure. So I know that you mentioned deland and one of the things that deland is well known for, not only for her beautiful art, but also for the teaching that she does, and it's teaching that she does for artists that she works with, but also for people within the community. And I think that's the other thing that I find really fascinating when I go to the artist openings is that they bring a lot of community members in with them that they really feel like that is important to them and to the work of remaining creative. Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. Somebody that we most recently started representing is Holden Willard, and Holden is extremely talented. He's new to the industry, relatively speaking. He's gotten a lot of attention. And also though at his opening, it was alive, it was dynamic. There were people that were really curious. I mean, he painted, his show was around really people in his world and experiences that he has that he actually feels just so much tenderness for. And that just was leaping off of the canvas. And so it's going to be really interesting. It already is fascinating to sort of have conversations with what people are observing in his work because they're very narrative. There's a story going on there. There's relationships going on there. He has a way through posture and through tone and through all these different ways to really just convey to the viewer, bring them really into that intimate so much. There are pieces that he's done of his parents that as a parent, I'm like, oh, it just gets me right in the heart. And he is new in his career and he is bringing that to though the community. He's bringing that energy with his opening. Just a lot of people that want to just embrace him and talk to him and are so excited and proud of where he is right now, and we're just thrilled to be working with him. You mentioned Delan also. She introduced us to an artist, Dale Roberts, who is Philadelphia based. And one of the things that we notice with Dale as he was a newer artist for us in 2023 uses the caustic medium, but in a way which is very realistic. We have other artists that do use the caustic medium, but their works are more abstract, excuse me. And at first you wonder is a urban landscape from Philly going to really work in Maine? But it does, and people are remarking about this skill and just in terms of his ability to be able to use this incredibly complicated medium to create these absolutely stunning landscapes. So that's been something new for us. We have been branching out a bit more of not only having artists that are from Maine, but that are also from other states. And that's an exciting journey to be on. I think the interesting thing that you're describing is this fact that it's a little bit like having any amount of Irish blood in you, is that all of us are somehow Irish, that I think there's a lot of people that do have a connection to Maine. So even though Dale maybe doesn't live here, some of our artists, he actually is connected to somebody else who's from here. And other artists split their time here, or they have a relationship from when they went to summer camp here. So I think Maine continues to have this almost missed goal, magical attraction that makes it even more important for people to buy art that has a main connection and kind of bring it back to wherever it is that they live. That's right. I mean, once they have, and I say that even about the artists that aren't from Maine or don't live in Maine, once they're represented with the Portland Art Gallery, we're all connected to Maine. And I haven't met an artist yet that's not willing to say, oh, I'll travel. I'll travel and look at Bibby and Andrew Faulkner out in California. They're like, we'll come to Main for our openings. We'll travel. So I do agree with you there is that once you are here, there is a part of you that will always feel it. There's a certain light here. There's a certain way of living here that people remember and becomes a part of them. I also think that when you're describing, for example, Holden Willard, one of the things I noticed about his opening was that he drew in a younger crowd and my daughter, Abby, who you know well, who also, if you happen to go to the art gallery opening, she creates wonderful food, beautiful boards of cheeses and fruits and wonderful things. So please do come and enjoy Abby's food. Amazing. Yeah, it is amazing. And she also was one of the ones who said, I really love this piece over here. I really love this piece over here. And these are Holden's pieces. And even though Holden does have kind of more classical training in art through art school, he also is creating something that does have this emotional connection to people of many ages, but specifically younger people, which I think is pretty wonderful because you're creating this intergenerational attraction too, Art a hundred percent. And there's something for everybody. And we're noticing even clients that are coming into the gallery with their kids, and now we're looking for that next generation of people that are looking for their work. And it's very funny, we had that happen not too long ago, and it was actually a piece by Laura. And so the parents came in who are seasoned art buyers, they're retired and they're working with their child, their daughter and her husband who are in New York, and they're going back and there's FaceTiming and they're doing all these things, and the parents are kind of like, gosh, we're so different in the way that we're approaching this. And actually they're different in their taste, but there is something for everyone there in that way. And it is so important to, I was reading something, it was the USB report on art Trends for 2022 and 2023 is not out yet, but the millennial population is 25% of the global art market buyer. And that number has gone up. And also the online marketing and purchasing has increased significantly from six to 16% from 2019 to 2022. I mean, that's a huge number. That's global granted, but US is the top of the countries for art buying. So it's something to pay attention to. It's something to really try to, that we wanted to pay attention to because you want to stay relevant, you want to stay relevant in front of and have people connect through the arts in whatever way it is. So it's a constant question. Well, I know having interviewed Annie Darling, who's one of our artists who's relatively new within the last year, but then also interviewing her son and his type of creativity, you're not going to find art from him yet. I mean, it might happen that goes on a wall, but this idea that people are creating art in different ways and thinking about creativity in different ways, and that by having a parent who engages in actually creating the art, it's probably going to open the space for a child who engages in creating art and enjoying art. A hundred percent. And it's funny because I think about it even in my own life. So my mother as an artist, although not a career artist, definitely inspired or set the stage for my sister, who is a career artist for me, who's always been involved in the arts in some way, no matter as a social worker or not. And then even not realizing, and we always had art for the kids, my kids growing up, there was the art cabinet, there was always exposure. I worked in museums, all that. And now my son's an art miner. And so it's like, oh, wait, did that happen by accident? Was that just, and then as to your point, if you start to recognize where there is that sort of introduction, where are those points of understanding and introduction? So our gallery, we want to be able to have people come and be introduced or connected to art in whatever stage they're in. They may never have been in an art gallery before, so let's find something that inspires them if they remember. Yeah, and I think that one of the benefits that I have seen in being married to Kevin, who is obviously your colleague at the Boy and Art Gallery, is that we give our children art for Christmas, which not everybody does, and they're modest pieces, but then we'll go into their homes or they'll send us pictures and it'll be up on their wall. And then I feel like that connection is also made where, as you spoke about the family that is working with the daughter that like, oh, well, now this is sort of being carried through even in a visual sense. There's sort of a legacy that's created. When I was growing up, I mean, my family didn't necessarily have a specific connection to art, and I did not receive a piece of art for a gift for many years. But now I'm really experiencing how special that is and how important that can be within a family and How fun it is for you to give your parents gifts of art. Exactly. That's right. I'm going backwards. It's really in both directions. That's exactly Right. And what a gift for all of 'em. What a gift for all of 'em. So I mean, art is everywhere. It's a platform for so many conversations and opportunities. So within our families, within our society, globally, locally, everywhere. So it's just refreshing to be able to embrace new artists, to be embracing new conversations and being able to just keep that moving forward, keep that familiarity and that understanding and that exposure and opportunity just keep on moving it forward. I have to say, I give both you and Kevin credit for continually reinvesting in the business. And I know this last year you made a big decision to take a huge step, and that is around the real estate. So you stopped being renters of the space that the Portland Art Gallery is in, and you became owners of that space, which is huge. It's huge. It's a huge commitment and probably not a little bit scary, I would think. Oh yeah. I mean, definitely. And I dunno to tell the story of it, but yes, it was a year ago that we were notified by the landlords that they're going to put the space on the market. It's two commercial condominium spaces on Middle Street in Portland. And Kevin acted really quickly and asked whether or not they could give us a couple of days, and did a lot of the legwork on trying to figure that out, provided the opportunity for me to participate in that. And then also, so we were able to make that, acquire the space, and it doubles down on your investment really fast in terms of the business, but also we wanted to share that with our artists, first and foremost, obviously our families first and foremost. But really this is a commitment that we have to you and to the community as well. We know that this space really just a beautiful, it's such place to have an art gallery, and there's really no place like it in the city. And in many cities we hear that all the time, but it's its best self right now in terms of being that. And so it's been a privilege and an opportunity to be able to double down on that investment and to see that it stays there. It's also been fascinating for me to see the people that are attracted to the space itself. And probably in no small part due to the art within, you've had organizations who have done after hours events there. You've had people who have who've gotten married there. I know. I mean, people are emotionally connecting to even the atmosphere that you've created that is really largely due to the art, but also the beautiful wood floors and the enormous windows and high ceilings location, the high ceilings. And so it's almost as if you're modeling what is possible for people's lives, and they're taking that as an opportunity to bring their very special occasion into a place that will really create memories. Yeah, a hundred percent. And yeah, that was such a fun recent story of a proposal where gentlemen reached out to us and asked whether or not we could set up this staged opportunity for him to propose to his and fiance, or no, it wasn't fiance yet became a fiance after that. And I mean, that was just fun for us too, to be a part of that. But there are these moments and opportunities with people that we have in our community, and it invites people in that maybe haven't been in the gallery before, which is really how fun is that? And then also, it's a space that's meant to be shared in different ways. So we want that energy, we want those opportunities. And so yeah, we've been doing more of that. And you actually have had weddings there before. This was the proposal. This was a proposal we had, and that was when we were half the size. So now imagine the gig that we could have. But yeah, we have had a wedding there. And I think that, so I guess all of this kind of comes back to the fact that you've been working with the Portland Art Gallery for, I guess we've decided seven slash eight years. The Portland Art Gallery was in existence for a few years before that, in a slightly different form. But it speaks to the evolving nature of any small business really, or any business, and how at every stage you continually need to recommit and reconnect in new and different ways and continue to evolve. And in the midst of that, you had three to four years of covid, so you got really good at online sales and being responsive to people from a distance, but at the same time, you're continuing to make sure that you have the physical presence that you need in Maine's largest city. We're very committed to that. And I think of someone like Laura Razek, our lessons are transferable to all of us. Just continue. What is it that you see next and how are you going to make it happen, and what can you do to, and for us, I mean, we think we just continue to want to grow. We want to have a lot of integrity and love and excitement with our artists and our artist community and continue to be really strong. I've also really been impressed with the amount of opportunity that you've created for the people who work with the Portland Art Gallery. And I know you're having an upcoming transition with someone who really has been an integral part of the Portland Art Gallery throughout Covid. And I think that a lot of people come to Maine having an art background and think, what is there that's available for me while I'm establishing myself as an actual artist, where can I work? And the Portland Art Gallery actually has given people a place where you can show up and you can share your love of art by actually making it possible for people to buy art. So you're actually helping create a skillset for the individuals who work with you for a number of years. And I think that's really important as well. Well, I think we have to demystify this idea that talking about the business of art is somehow unpleasant or that you shouldn't do that. It's the reality. We are a small business. We have bills to pay all of those things. Artists deserve to make a living. They deserve to be able to have to support themselves as professional artists. They need to do the work for that too. I mean, if they're more passive about their work, then that's probably going to play itself out. But they're making the decision to be professionals as artists. And so that whole growth mindset, if somebody has that coming in and is curious and wonders about that, and then also embraces that understanding, then there's a lot of room for opportunity in terms of working within a gallery setting. But we're not a museum. We're not fundraising. We're not doing any of those. We're a business. And there's nothing wrong with that. That's not an ugly thing. It's a beautiful thing because we're supporting 60 artists and their livelihood and ourselves at the same time. And it's not without hard work, and it's not without opportunities. But there are plenty of, I mean, I know that with Emma's moving forward, that's a lot of what we talk about, where she started and where she is now, and what her understanding and that depth of understanding that she has about the gallery business and small business in general. So coming from obviously the healthcare profession where people come in at a certain stage in their career and they tend to be younger, maybe newly out of school, they're not sure quite what they want yet, but they're getting their feet wet and they're understanding what can I learn? And knowing that this is where we're heading as a culture, that we're going to have people who come in and continually need to be learning so that they can move on to the next thing. We're not a culture that is going to be 30 years in one place. Here's the Gold Watch and the pension. So how do you create opportunities and also maintain a sustainable workplace for people who maybe are a little younger and a little bit less experienced? I mean, you've had great success with this because you've had people who will come in for so many years and then move on to the next thing. Having learned quite a bit and had a mutually agreeable relationship. How have you done that so successfully? Well, I mean, I think it goes back to those intrinsic qualities of the person and their work ethic. I mean, people can have goals to, I want to, whatever it might be. I don't be president of the United States, whatever. But you have to set yourself up to do the work to get to whatever that goal is. And so you can get a sense pretty quickly if somebody is really being present in their work and if they're being present in what it is, and good if they have goals. You want that growth mindset that we were just talking about, but it's just how to stay present with what it is that needs to be done now. What are the fundamentals that need to be done now in order to build those blocks for the next thing? And I think it's not just random. I mean, I think there's people, it's either a fit or it's not a fit in terms of that work approach. But I think of Missy or Emma or some other people that have worked with us, they've come really, really new to the field, and they have enough permission to be able to grow and opportunity to be able to grow outside of the job. But also how can they use the opportunity to stay present with the work that they need to do, and how does that feed their future dreams and aspirations? Sometimes we don't know what those aspirations are. Geez. I mean, you couldn't have tell me, this is where I would be necessarily. However, I did know I wanted to be a certain level of independence. I did know that I wanted to be able to travel. I did know that I wanted to do certain things, but I also knew that I needed to do certain things to get there. And that comes back to just an appreciation and an understanding of your work and your responsibilities, having a grateful heart, and keep moving forward with the opportunities that you have, keep working, keep working forward. I know as a parent, and you and I have children that are roughly the same age, some of whom are finishing their education, some of whom have entered the workforce. I'm also incredibly grateful to those out there who create those opportunities for our children. Absolutely. Because I think you do, once you make it through high school and college and you go out into the world, I mean, you're at a tender place. Your heart is open. You don't have quite enough experience to do maybe what you hope you want to do eventually, but you are at a place where you have a willingness to learn. So I'm always grateful to the places that make that possible. And I do think the Portland Art Gallery has done a nice job with that. Thank you. And also, I do feel that as well with my kids as they're out in the world and they're doing just who are those other adults that are helping them, sort of nudging them along, but also nurturing them and then teaching them. And it's a wonderful thing. It really is. And I do think going to the gallery openings on a monthly basis and seeing over time again, the kind of cross-generational approach to relationships, it makes me happy because I think one of the things we found going through this recent global pandemic was just the significant negative impact of isolation and loneliness. And so knowing that we can find this connectivity around something like art, which is obviously beautiful and kind of nourishing to the soul, but also around something like relationship and community and just appreciating each other as humans. I think that's incredibly important. And I know that that was very important to the art gallery. Even though you briefly went towards virtual openings, you were pretty quickly back out there creating community in a real way. Yeah, it's important. And maybe it's just something that I feel is important. So it's something that, but it's even with, I have a hard time isolating when something's going on that's big in the world. I want to feel connected to somebody or something, or just, I don't want to feel that aloneness, that loneliness. Even when the shooting happened, the horrible, horrible shooting happened in Lewiston. It's like I wanted to go to the gallery that day, even though, obviously, and it was so meaningful to be there and to be able to interact with people who also wanted to be there or were visiting from out of town, and this was just their vacation they had planned for a while, and this unfortunate, hideous event, it happened. So there, then there's other people that don't want that. They need something different. And so that's where the online, but they still want to sort of know and understand what's going on, but then they have this online opportunity to look at beauty or to feel beauty or to connect with beauty when we sometimes really, really need that. And I think that's what sometimes people really need is to feel the beauty of life or to feel the beauty of art or for beauty of people. And so we're looking to grow that and to also have that in our openings. And I do love the more intergenerational aspect of it. We've got Lucy pour and wine, and we've got Abby doing the food. We've got the artists that are just expansive, and it's just celebratory. It's not a big old wedding or anything, but it's just like, it's just the different people in different stages of their lives coming together. And it's fun. It's fun. So ands, that's a beautiful thing. So yeah, I agree though, just in terms of having the space and the opportun