Change is in the Air

La Linda, by our artist in residence, Sam Jones

There are big changes going on in the Atlanta art gallery scene and we are excited about them all. For some galleries, change has led to sharpening their game. For others, it has meant rearranging priorities, hiring new people, consolidating in other cities or even closing doors. A little shake up took place and the result is a smaller, tighter knit community of galleries who are all working a little harder, and in a surprising twist, better together. We, for one, have embraced the changes and are totally excited about what the future brings.
One of our favorite friendly, competitive galleries: Anne Irwin Fine Art

When Anne Irwin announced a couple of months ago that Emily Amy was closing her gallery on the west side to become Anne Irwin’s gallery director, we were both thrilled for Anne and Emily and simultaneously a little envious. It was a brave move and a great coup for them both and we thought it signaled a positive challenge for all of us: To keep on our toes, sharpen our game and embrace the future!

A couple of other changes took place with one favorite gallery in town retiring from the game and going back to private representation. Another favorite gallery decided to close their Atlanta presence in favor of another location which has been thriving in the past few years. The most interesting part of these changes has been the spirit of cooperation among both the departing and remaining galleries in town. We have been most touched by one gallery, in particular, who was extremely concerned that their artists continue to have the right representation. As a result of this and other changes in the gallery scene, we have excitedly picked up five new artists, which we are announcing in today’s email blast (click here if you would like to sign up for our emails), all of whom came to us recommended by other galleries.

New HHFA artist, Carolyn Killebrew, All On, 48 x 50

New HHFA artist, Brad Robertson, Abstraction II, 36 x 36


New HHFA artist, Jenny Schultz, Reflections of Normandy, 48 x 20




New HHFA artist, Barrett Edwards, Marsh Skies, 12 x 24
New HHFA artist, Andrea Costa, Glowing Sunset, 36 x 48

We love this spirit of cooperation and think that it makes for a healthy, gallery environment where everyone – artist, collector and gallery owner - benefits. And it also signals something else: Galleries are confident that there is enough demand out there for all of us to thrive in our various niches. In addition to adding new artists to our roster, we have also made some internal switches that we are excited to announce. We lovingly lost our wonderful Sarah to a new and exciting art-related opportunity, and although we were sad to see her go and grateful for her time with us, it reminded us that we can’t keep our birds in a cage when it’s time for them to fly with their own wings. One door closed but another opened wide when Linda Mohan - who has been with the gallery since we started and whom we borrowed full-time to help us open Huff Harrington Home – returned to her true love, Huff Harrington Fine Art, as the Gallery Manager.

 
Linda Mohan - our new Gallery Manager

Linda's electrifying smile, warm and welcoming personality and complete familiarity with all of our artists has just lit the gallery on fire! It’s been a great month and we are so thrilled that Linda’s many wonderful gifts are being used to their best advantage. And in an interesting twist on even more gallery cooperation, if you visit us this Saturday, you’ll see a new face at Huff Harrington Fine Art whom you may recognize from a couple of the other galleries in town. That’s right: In possibly the ultimate act of cooperation, we are actually sharing an employee among a couple of different Atlanta galleries. Why not? Good, knowledgeable employees are hard to come by and if one of us finds a great one but can’t offer the full-time work, why not share? That’s the kind of spirit that we think is helping us all thrive in our healthily competitive Atlanta art market.


.
Mackenzie, who has already earned the highest of HHFA compliments, a new nickname: MacDaddy!

 So here’s to our fellow galleries in Atlanta and to the changes in the air: Thank you for your help and support over the years, and may we all continue to cooperate, be successful and do the right thing for our artists, our collectors and each other.



Cheers!

Ta ta,

HH