The Traveling Salesman

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Also: Don’t Suck

A panel of gallery owners decked out in the industry colors–black, black, black, and gray–reeled off a dos-and-don’ts list for an attentive audience of 120 at last week’s Artists at Work forum at the Cultural Center. Moderated by Natalie van Straaten, executive director of the Chicago Art Dealers Association, the panel consisted of fledgling ceramics specialist Dubhe Carreno, established dealer Carrie Secrist, and veteran Carl Hammer. Besides no-brainers like knowing what the gallery shows, including an SASE, and keeping the artist’s statement brief and clear, the list went like this: don’t get chatty with gallery owners at art fairs (they want to talk to collectors there); don’t schlep your actual creations into their space (call and ask how they review work); don’t ask them to critique your stuff (ask if they’ll show it); don’t show them everything you’ve ever done (they don’t care about your development and they don’t want to see more than 10 to 20 images); don’t look too slick or push too hard. And keep in mind that it’s all about the art.

Their Princeton clientele was a summer crowd, about 75 percent from Chicago, Schulz says, and the couple had in mind from the beginning that they’d eventually expand to the city. Last October they grabbed a two-story building at 1039 W. Lake, and last weekend Navta Schulz Gallery opened with a show of work by their roster of 17 artists, ranging from established out-of-towners like Thaddeus Mosley to up-and-coming locals. Former Ripon College art professor Lester O. Schwartz, another longtime neighbor from Green Lake, is prominent among them. Schwartz, a painter and sculptor who’s had work in shows at the Art Institute and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was an active figure in the art world of the 1940s before he settled in at Ripon, Schulz says. “We drove past his house every week on the way to our cottage. He had a huge sculpture garden. When I saw that [garden] I knew we were almost there. He’s been an icon for me my entire life.”

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Robert Drea.