The Working World

Retooling: Affordable Art Keeps Gallery Afloat

Provenance be damned. These days the most important thing for gallery owners to master is the art of survival.

The art market—like everything else—has been in contraction for more than a year. Galleries are closing, and many are struggling.

But Jessica L. Porter, owner of a small gallery in New York City, started her business in a recession-friendly fashion. And in the downturn, she has figured out a way to keep people buying art. (Read Artists’ New Take on Money.]

Porter launched Raandesk Gallery in 2006, after jobs in museums, an art shipping company and a law firm. She focuses on painting and photography by contemporary emerging artists, and keeps the works under $10,000 range.

“My hesitation for opening a gallery was how do I afford $10,000 a month rent for retail space?” she says. “If you want to be in a space where art buyers come that’s what you have to spend.”

So, she built up a strong website, and tried renting space from other galleries for a night at a time. Raandesk’s first show was at Christopher Henry Gallery in Chelsea. Turnout was great. The hassle of having the space for one evening wasn’t. “That got old really fast,” she says. Next she tried partnering up with businesses like wine bars and restaurants, but the art was susceptible to theft and damage.

Now Porter shares space with In Good Company, a co-working office on West 23rd Street, clearing the desks out at night. One disadvantage is, they can’t just put anything on the walls–nudity would be a no-no, for example. “But that’s a tradeoff I’m happy with in this market,” Porter says. “We’re definitely saving thousands a month.”

People who had received gifts came in to buy. Clients bought the smaller works to have bite-sized works by artists they wanted to collect, though they couldn’t justify larger works.

Even so, the last quarter of 2008 was shaping up to be worst the gallery had seen—sales dropped off a cliff. Porter had been considering putting gift certificates on the website, after a client’s mother called to buy a present for her daughter. Instead, with the market tanking, she launched AART2Gift. “I asked artists I worked with to create new works of art that were smaller and that they felt comfortable pricing at $35 to $500.”

She wanted to get people to think of art as something they could comfortably give as a gift, but AART2Gift became bigger than that. People who had received gifts came in to buy. Clients bought the smaller works to have bite-sized works by artists they wanted to collect, though they couldn’t justify larger works. AART2Gift now makes up about 30 percent of her sales, Porter estimates.

“It’s also been a great way for me to try out new artists,” she says. “Maybe I’m on the fence about repping them. It’s a great way to get small works and see how the public responds.”

Last year, she marketed the program online and by sending out emails. This year, in November, she plans to have a large opening/shopping event.

“It’s safer when you can by something for someone that’s small,” Porter says. “I do,’t know anyone who would buy something for $10,000 as a gift unless you’re positive it’s something they want.”

In the meantime, one of her other services, art rental, has also benefitted from the bust. In the past, most of the renters were film productions or people preparing for a big event. But when the downturn began, she started getting more inquiries—particularly from property owners trying to sell homes. She recently spoke to a real estate staging association. “Since then requests have kind of been pouring in,” she says.

Tags: art, New York, Retooling, spending, Trends and Entertainment