A heartbreaking email arrived in our box late last night--one that we'd hoped would never come, though we knew in our guts most probably would:
As reluctant as we are to join the list of closing galleries and businesses around Milwaukee, it has unfortunately come time to announce that the Armoury officially closed with the end of our last show on May 2nd. Due to a variety of reasons, not least of them being financial, we will no longer be continuing to run our space in the Fortress Building."
Argh, people! This news fills us with both sadness and frustration. While it's always an incredibly tough job to keep a gallery afloat during normal times, this horrific economic crisis continues to exact a terrible toll on the arts community and it appears that the comforting sight of the end remains elusive.
What makes this closing even harder is that The Armoury's owners, Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith, while young in age and fairly green in experience, proved themselves everyday to be exceptionally savvy both in artistic and business matters--a practical combination that's somewhat of a rarity in the artsy crowd.
As working artists themselves, Jessica and Cassandra happily supported their fellow Miltown artists while bringing in the work of others from across the country. Their role as consistent champion of individual and independent artists will be, to put it mildly, greatly missed.
We wish all the best to Jessica and Cassandra in their new endeavors. Whatever they choose to take on, we have no doubt at all that they will succeed in spectacular fashion.
Read the whole goodbye letter at The Armoury Gallery blog.
When the White Whale, Spackle and Armoury all opened in quick succession a while ago, everyone kind of knew all three couldn't possibly survive. But now all three have folded, and paper boat as well, The Borg Ward has reduced it's gallery events and clearly depends more on the music component to remain open, and struggling at that.
I vaguely remember questions at the time about why MIGA formed instead of these galleries joining MADA. The MIGA founders said that membership in MADA is too expensive. The loss of all these galleries in spite of their efforts to cooperate, their clear good business sense, and their obvious dedication indicates that there is something wrong with visual art in Milwaukee that cannot be blamed on the new gallery owners. If these gallery owners did anything wrong it was showing too much good art, not enough bland living room hangings or established names or movements.
Mostly, I'd like to know where MADA stands. Did they consider MIGA competition or possible allies? Are they happy to see these galleries close, or do they regret not doing more to help cross-over between the different demographics, which might have been mutually beneficial? Have they made public statements about this that i missed, or are these fledgling galleries too small to even show up on MADA's insular radar of significant arts organizations?
Posted by: Ben Turk | May 19, 2009 at 01:55 PM
All fair and good questions, Ben. I'll try do a follow-up on the issues you've brought forth here.
Tally-ho!
Mary
Posted by: Mary Dally-Muenzmaier | May 19, 2009 at 04:29 PM