Art and Creativity: Another Year... and Evaluating Our Options
Happy (slightly belated) New Year!
We're now a ways into 2019, and find ourselves faced with the task of looking at what we are going to do with this new year.
Format Change?
The history of the Red Dragonfly Gallery is that we've spent our existence-to-date as a business venture trying to be a place for mostly up-and-coming "alternative" artists to show their work. In many cases, we have served as their initial stepping stone into the world of art.
We have loved what we're doing... and have no regrets
"Noble" or cool as that might be, we are having to face the sad and somewhat harsh reality that this format is a disaster, from a financial perspective.
The problem?
In the broadest sort of sense, the people with disposable income to buy art aren't interested in what we offer, and the people who love what we have to offer don't have any money. Pure and simple, without apologies.
Naturally, there have been some exceptions along the way... but they are too few and far between for us to justify continuing in the same format we previously have.
That leaves us with two primary options:
We can either change the Red Dragonfly Gallery's format, or we can shut down completely... either when our lease expires in June 2019, or sooner, if we can find someone to take over the lease for the last 4-5 months.
A favorite bumper sticker
How Bad IS it?
My wife and I are the sole proprietors of the gallery, and for the past 6-8 months, we have had to personally underwrite the running expenses to the tune of $600 to $1000 a month, simply to keep the doors open and the electricity turned on.
As we are not wealthy to start with, that's an untenable situation we cannot afford to maintain... not even for the next six months.
The potential "fix" is to analyze what we do sell and put all our efforts into focusing on that. Which basically means turning our back on original art and instead filling the space with $5 to $25 hand made and artsy "gifty" items, souvenirs and various smaller "trinkets" that appeal to the tourist trade.
It's sad to write those words, but at this point we are simply looking at short term survival here.
There was a time when we even had hopes that our Steemit presence might help subsidize gallery overhead, but that ship appears to have long since sailed. As I look back at our records; our blogging efforts on Steemit in January 2018 help subsidize the business to the tune of $800, but with the sagging crypto markets... that's not an option anymore.
Which way will our winds blow, next?
The Road Forward — Longer Term
What seems most feasible — in the longer term — is to keep operating with the "Red Dragonfly" name as an umbrella for our personal creative and art endeavors, to keep our online stores, to keep doing festivals and fairs... but to no longer have a Brick-and-Mortar location.
The Red Dragonfly Steemit blog will definitely continue, but as a "general" art blog (rather than gallery news), with occasional postings relating to our personal art projects and our trips to external fairs and festivals.
Naturally, we would continue to support art and artists on Steemit, because I still believe this is a great alternative venue for creative souls to gain additional exposure for their work.
Without a physical location to take up some 50 hours of my life per week, there will also be much more time to keep up this blog on a regular basis... and I see that as a good thing. I'd like to think our posts about the world of art and creativity will still have value for others in the field!
Through new doorways we shall go!
Continued Support for @sndbox
Most of our Steem Power is currently tied up in a delegation to the @sndbox initiative, and we definitely plan to continue to leave that delegation in place for the foreseeable future. I believe in supporting those who support us.
SndBox was key in helping us get our blog established on Steemit, and it was — in large part — thanks to their support that we did as well as we did with this blog and I'll also include a thanks and shout out to chief Sndboxers Kirk (@voronoi) and Michael (@hansikhouse) for their support!
And that's about where I am going to end this installment of the Red Dragonfly saga. We're still here, but we're changing the parameters for what we're doing. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, either! Stay tuned...
Thanks for reading!
Red Dragonfly is a proud graduate through the @sndbox creative incubator program, part of the "Cohort 1" team of May 31st, 2018. Please support @sndbox and the @sndbox-alpha curation initiative!
The Red Dragonfly is an independent alternative art gallery located in Port Townsend, WA; showcasing edgy and unique contemporary art & handmade crafts by local and worldwide artists. All images are our own, unless otherwise credited. Where applicable, artist images used with permission.
2019.01.12
This excellent post was included in our new curation effort The Magnificent Seven -- a collaborative work by @enchantedspirit and @catweasel. You have received a 100% upvote from each of us to show our appreciation for your post. To see your creation showcased here ... and the fine company you keep ... please visit this link.
We appreciate your support both for our work on this project and for the other creators of exceptional content who make it all possible. (Follow @catweasel to catch our future Magnificent Seven posts. @enchantedspirit says I'm really not as annoying as you might think, but she doesn't mean it.)
Hello @reddragonfly, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!