George Earle: A Retrospective

Wild Card

George Earle: A Retrospective
(October 8 - October 31)

George F. Earle is 95 years old and still painting with the same passion for his craft that emerged when producing his first oil painting at age eight. Delavan Art Gallery is pleased to honor this accomplished artist and his creative legacy through a retrospective curated by his family. The display in the gallery’s Wild Card space opens with a reception from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm on Thursday, October 8, and remains up through Saturday, October 31.

Throughout George Earle’s adventurous life, he has managed to combine his love of painting with his passion for skiing and urge to write. In his early years growing up in New Bedford, MA, the pursuit of artistic studies coupled with the desire to experience better snow conditions brought him to Syracuse University to the undergraduate art school that remains one of the oldest in the country, and to the hills of Upstate New York that allowed him plenty of opportunity to ‘hit the slopes.’

Back then, Earle started the University’s first ski team, and many years later, he would return to that campus to teach design and art history before moving on to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, School of Landscape Architecture where he now holds the title of Professor Emeritus. 

During the years between 1933 and today, Earle traveled an exciting journey. In 1937, he was awarded a Tiffany Foundation Fellowship and spent the next year painting in Mexico. In 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor, Earle interrupted his advanced studies at Yale to enlist in the army, where for four years he served as an instructor and coach of the great 1944 10th Mountain Division ski team. After the war, he returned to SU to teach art and direct what was, at the time, the largest ski school in the country.

Throughout his journeys, Earle continued to paint whatever subject was at hand and would later publish books visually documenting his adventures, both with palette and written words. In The Road Less Traveled, Earle recounts his escapades in Mexico, while Birth of a Division takes the reader through the first operation that established the 10th Mountain Division as an important part of the U. S. military force that remains so today.

Following are the artist’s comments on three of the paintings included in Delavan’s display. Of “Mexican Caretaker,” Earle says: “In Mexico, I rented a small house complete with a maid who slept on the front step and did my cooking and laundry. It is among the many paintings I sent home that year.” He says “Water Under The Bridge” was painted in New England and adds, “the stream crossing, dark with pine trees, shows the complicated patterns of water in it’s eddies and turns.”

The painting, “Clark Reservation” was done first as a quick sketch to show his Landscape Architecture class ‘a few tricks’ when brought there to paint from the reservation’s natural scenes. “Later, I enlarged and developed the sketch,” Earle says. “I was particularly interested in the snake like tree trunks and beams of light through the trees.”

The End of One-Way Journalism: Reviewing the Reviewer

Sept 30, 2009

(Note: this is kinda long – feel free to skip down to the “Response to the Review “ section. We also encourage you to leave a comment on your thoughts about this or future posts by clicking on the Comments link at the end of the post, in this case, after the words "stay tuned".)

I INTRODUCTION

Art Reviews of shows and venues are important to the life of artists, museums and galleries. They are frequently the only point of contact between an artist, gallery or museum and the non-artist public, which means most everybody but the small group of active art goers.

At the beginning of this exhibit, prior to any other reviews, we initiated a program to have Independent Reviews of our shows because we perceived an urgent need for more reviews (and hence more reviewers) of the visual arts scene in general and of our shows in particular. We hired Bonnie Rosenberg, a graduate student in the Goldring Arts Journalism Program at SU, to write ongoing independent reviews of our shows. The deal is this: We pay her for her time to view shows and write reviews, which we will then publish on our website and blog regardless of what she writes. We will check the review only for factual matters, not evaluative or interpretative content. We posted her first review of Visions on our website and blog (delavanartgallery.blogspot.com) on Friday, September 11. We, of course, reserve the right to comment on her review, as she has the right to comment on our comments.

Up to now the review situation has been characterized by One-Way Journalism. If an art critic decides to do a review of a venue’s show, he or she comes, writes a review and publishes it on a schedule convenient to them. For all practical purposes there is no possibility of a publicly viewable response – certainly not one which is timely or in the same part of the newspaper in which the review first appeared. At best, any response would appear, unedited, the following week, in the same section as the original piece of writing. But that “at best” doesn’t happen. A Letter to the Editor, if it is published at all, will generally be placed in the op-ed section and will generally be cut in overall length or heavily edited. (In one non-art related case I’ve had a “Letter to the Editor” held up for over a month, then edited with changes in paragraphing, sentence structure and tense to the point that the final result made me look incoherent).

Ideally the resolution to the problem of One-Way Journalism would be to have the review done earlier and then made available to the artists and venue being reviewed so that they could make their comments. Then the whole ensemble, the original review and the comments, would be published at the same time in the same space. The newspapers may not have the time, inclination or space (ink), but this would be a valuable asset to the community.

So, we are forced to do it ourselves. However, with the internet, a whole new dimension of communication has opened up. It is possible not only to post writings and responses to them, but also to make public comments regarding those writings. This opens up the process to interactivity – i.e. posting of an original writing, a response(s), then response(s) to the responses etc. So, who can respond? Anybody: gallery staff, artists who have been reviewed, other artists, the general public—even the art critics being themselves reviewed. The next section of this writing is our response to the Katherine Rushworth’s recent review in the Post-Standard.

II RESPONSE TO THE REVIEW

The review of our show Visions by Katherine Rushworth appeared in this past Sunday’s Stars section of the Post-Standard (Sept 27, 2009). For your convenience we’d like to post the entire review here on this blog, but that would probably violate copyright law. As a second option we’d like to provide a convenient link to the review, but so far have been unable to find it posted on the Post-Standard’s website Syracuse.com.

We’re therefore left with the challenge and necessity of commenting on a piece of writing that we are unable to provide here in its entirety. So here goes.

IN GENERAL

In the second paragraph of the review Rushworth, who will be referred to as the “Art Critic” from here on, said “There’s little unifying the works thematically…but that really doesn’t matter. Each artist demonstrates some degree of vision and all three prove to be at least competent in their respective media”. How can the term Visions not be inclusive in a visual arts show? Does not every artist have a vision? Then, her use of the term “at least competent…” displays, in my opinion, the grudging acknowledgment of the quality work shown here, but put in the least appealing terms. I think it indicates an upfront bias against either the artists in question, or, more probably, against the Delavan Art Gallery. For the record, these four artists are very competent and deserve more than a grudging nod to their abilities.

TANYA KIROUAC

Next, the Art Critic states that Toronto artist, Tanya Kirouac, has a solid command of encaustic painting, but (and now comes the negative) she “limits her subject matter to the point of redundancy.” The Art Critic goes on to say: “This may not be entirely Kirouac’s fault, but the consequences of the specific works show organizers chose. But that’s always the risk an artist faces when the gallery assists in the selection of work”. In both a discussion with the Art Critic at the end of her review time at the gallery, and in an e-mail on the subject when she sought clarification, we made it very clear that we, the gallery staff, pick the artists to be exhibited, the timing of an exhibit and the selection of an artist’s art work*. While we certainly encourage input from artists during the selection process, selection is our responsibility. That said, I am quite proud of our selection of work by the four artists, including Tanya Kirouac’s – as well as the selection of over 165 artists and their artwork over the past six+ years. In this case I have re-examined the five pieces the Art Critic listed and found them to be sufficiently different to be shown together – they provide variation within an internal “unity of theme” that in other contexts the Art Critic seems to like.

BILL STORM

She states: “But in other images, in which he ratchets up the color to high-octane levels, he seems to have lost his aesthetic sense and is playing with color (and digital toys) simply for the sake of playing with color. In Primeval #12 and #8, the color seems manipulated and does not enhance the natural landscape he’s using as subject matter. I’d rather Storm went over the top in to the realm of the impossible, as in Primeval #2, #7 and #1, than not be fully committed.”

Most photography today has moved from film to digital, and therefore goes through a computer. The “digital toys” to which the Art Critic refers, are, when more respectfully considered, the photographer’s tools to be used by the photographic artist as a painter uses paint brushes and paint. The skill and judgment with which the photographic artist uses a computer determines whether the output is good or bad art. It is fair to criticize a photographer’s use of the digital tool box, but the Art Critic has here stipulated an interesting criterion which is that changes in color (which she derogatorily refers to as manipulation) must enhance the natural landscape. Further, she has criticized the artist for manipulating images, but then suggests that he should do more of it.

PHIL PARSONS

The Art Critic made a generally favorable comment of this excellent oil painter’s work, but she felt the placement of one of the buildings interfered with the natural composition. OK, so he has twelve marvelous paintings on display, and she takes her limited space to dis one painting she didn’t like.

BARBARA STOUT

An all too brief description of the watercolors and ink pieces by a fine artist.

OVERALL

More space given to Barbara Stout, and less to uninformed speculation/projection about the selection process would have made a much better review. Also, the pejorative reference to the artists as being “at least competent” was unhelpful to a reader wanting to find out about the exhibit.

I invite the reading public to visit the gallery and see for yourselves the show of the four artists’ work, and the accuracy of the Art Critic’s review. One note: Tanya Kirouac’s work is only up for three more days – Friday, October 2 (noon – 6:00 PM0 and Saturday, October 3 (10:00 AM – 4:00 PM).

-Bill Delavan, Director

* Note: Only in some special circumstances such as elementary school shows, retrospectives and some of the group shows, do we not select the artwork.

Final note: Caroline Szozda McGowan, Gallery Manager, will shortly be posting her comments on Katherine Rushworth’s review on the blog and other reviewed artists may also be posting. Stay tuned.

Visions and Discoveries

Feature Exhibition:

Visions

(September 10-October 24)

A collection of works by three artists, including paintings by Phil Parsons, photography by Bill Storm, and ink drawings by Barbara Stout is the featured exhibition heralding the start of the new season at Delavan Art Gallery. Visions opens September 10 with a public reception that night from 5:00-8:00 PM.

Phil Parsons, a graduate of The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, is a nationally published decorative artist who works with interior designers and clients throughout New York. His current collection of paintings at Delavan, however, points to pride of his families' roots in Syracuse and appreciation for the city's rural surroundings of small towns, farms and countryside fields. Under the title, Roadside, Parsons says, "I wanted to capture those ragged woods, matted fields and old homesteads." The works represent over two years of work, altered in his perception of viewing the subject matter following the passing of a family member. He says, "In death, everything seems fleeting. I needed a record, a reminder for my children and myself. This is where we live." While Parsons' pieces are painted in a realistic style, he explains, "I have felt free to change the landscape, repaint barns, and invent skies to reflect my feelings."

Bill Storm, influenced from his early professional background as musician, recording engineer and producer, says his show titled, Primeval, is the outgrowth of a lifetime fascination for expressing emotions and ideas through artistic media, be it sound or visual, that "makes me want to stop and look or listen." Storm says he discovered his love for fine art photography while at Syracuse University where his musical experience earned him positions both as a Director of the Belfer Audio Laboratory and Archive and as an instructor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. He says that his good fortune of having worked with a host of noted recording artists in his previous career, along with appreciation for works by masters studied in his new endeavor, helped him to 'see in single images the wonderful sensory impact associated with great musicians playing on great recordings.' Thus his fine art approach and straightforward goal of "creating images that trigger imagination."

Gods, Beasts, and Mortals is the title Barbara Stout says best describes her ink drawings included in Visions, citing that only a few are clearly or vaguely human, and the rest, animal or beast-like or in the deity category. The artist, whose strongest influences come from primitive art, signs and symbols from numerous cultures, as well as from psychology and social relationships, says that in her creations she is looking for a resonance with the raw experience of love... "its vulnerability, openness, heightened awareness, abandon and beauty." She feels that these explorations "have their own rules that translate a poetic truth rather than a literal rendering." Thus Stout describes her paintings as becoming like a jazz improvisation, exposing the history and beauty of freedom where in her painted worlds "a beast can buy a car, Jesus can leave the high and mighty, wings can appear in unexpected places, and somewhere a new set of wings are sprouting.'

Wild Card Exhibition:
Discoveries
(September 10-October 3)
Encaustics by Tanya Kirouac

Reaching beyond US borders, Delavan Art Gallery is pleased to present Discoveries, an exhibition that celebrates the engaging talents of an encaustic painter who hails from Toronto, Ontario. The artist describes the term encaustic, derived from the Greek word 'enkaustikos' meaning "to heat" or "to burn," as a technique that uses wax in a process involving heat to apply the medium and secure it. Composed of beeswax or microcrystalline wax, damar resin and pigments, the term is often used to describe both the paint itself and the method for using it.

In her artist statement, Kirouac explains, "I am an encaustic painter, deeply rooted in the visual language of landscapes and the natural world. Similar to the way nature builds up and washes away what it creates, I apply and remove layers of wax. Possibilities, which had yet to be discovered rise and make themselves apparent. This process allows me to develop complex images in relief." She continues, "Encaustic has an inherent opacity. This quality creates transparency, which mirrors the fragility of our world. These transparencies give the completed works an almost dreamlike finish - a reminder of the possibility that the objects of my inspiration can be fleeting and might one day exist only in my memory."

Independent Critic Review Program

September 11, 2009

Dear Patrons and Artists,

Delavan Art Gallery takes pride in celebrating the creativity of artists shown here. To further that end, we also strongly believe that a review of each exhibition is important, not only in response to artists' efforts to avail their works for public view, but also to give viewers another dimension through which to enhance their appreciation and enjoyment of what they see. However, there are too few media reviewers and/or reviews to cover the large number of visual art exhibits that take place in this area.

To address this situation, we are beginning a new program of having independent critiques of our shows, beginning with our current exhibitions. Here's how it will work:
--We will pay the independent critic for her/his time for coming to the gallery and writing a critique. We will review the critique for factual matter only prior to posting to our e-mail list and blog. We will not change interpretative, evaluative, or other matters of content. The independent critic is free to write what she/he wishes without fear of editing. On the e-mail posting, following the critique, we may choose to post our comments regarding the critique, and on the blog we may likewise post comments along with other readers, which may include the artists being reviewed. Thus this new program, through the blog, allows interactivity between critic, gallery, artist and viewer which only the internet enables.

To begin the program we are proud to announce that Bonnie Rosenberg has been selected as Delavan Art Gallery's first independent critic. Bonnie is currently a graduate student at Syracuse University's S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications where she is receiving her masters in Arts Journalism as part of the school's Goldring Program. Prior to coming to Syracuse, Bonnie graduated from Saint Louis University where she earned a dual Bachelor's degree in Art History and English Literature and also held two competitive internships, one as the Family Program intern at St. Louise Art Museum and the other as curator of her own exhibit in the Historic Samuel Cupples House on campus.

This reviewer's interest in the visual arts was ignited by her hometown Chicago, and as she says, "persists in Central New York where I will be an imbedded critic for Delavan Art Gallery and connoisseur of the Syracuse art scene at large." Bonnie adds, "In my efforts, I hope to create an on-going dialogue among artists and the public."

What follows are Bonnie Rosenberg's comments on Delavan Art Gallery's 50th Show opening our new season: our main exhibition titled Visions and the gallery's Wild Card Show, Discoveries.

Our thanks and congratulations to artists participating in these exhibitions and to Bonnie for coming to the opening to view them. We also wish to extend an invitation to the public to visit here during the shows runs and join with us in applauding the creativity that permeates throughout Central New York and beyond.

Sincerely,

Bill Delavan
Gallery Director

Visions Exhibit Opens New Season at the Delavan

Bonnie Rosenberg
September 7, 2009

Artists have the ability to create their own version of reality. They can purge a bad memory with the sweep of a brush or create an alternate one with the click of a camera.

In the Delavan Art Gallery's September exhibit, Visions, four artists - Phil Parsons, Bill Storm, Barbara Stout and Tanya Kirouac - present their art as it derives and deviates from reality. This show highlights the power of artistic license and its ability to manifest differently in artists.

This exhibit provides more than aesthetic appeal. It provokes thought and calls into question the notion of truth in art. If Keats was right, and beauty really is synonymous with truth, then the Delavan has found the key to artistic veracity.

Bill Storm's show Primeval presents nature through lenses both abstract and straight. His black and white photographs depict beautiful natural scenes that glorify what remains of the great American landscape. Storm's color photos are less representational and transform nature into amorphous studies in color, texture and composition. In Primeval #3, streams of brilliant blood red weave around chunks of earth. Detached from its original context, this photo takes on a sinister feeling - adopting overtones of violence and rage.

By cropping nature and applying color, Storm distorts reality and constructs his own landscape. His view of nature evokes an immediate visceral response from its audience, a reaction that is aligned with the prehistoric title of the collection.

The adjacent exhibit, Roadside, by Phil Parsons explores the landscapes of the greater Syracuse area. Parson's scenes are inspired by Central New York's rural vistas, but were composed in his imagination. Farms, winding roads and emotive skies mark these serene paintings.

The muddy color palette that characterizes these works is sporadically disrupted by leavening strokes of yellow and white. These small dots of color are welcome in a painted world where browns and tans prevail. In Howlett Hill Moon a single smudge of pale orange illuminates a path to the painting's apex.

The rurality of these paintings appropriately follows in the tradition of Hudson River School artists. Parsons artworks serve as records of his life's events in New York. Each canvas represents a memory, albeit a manufactured one.

In her ink and watercolor drawings, fellow exhibitor Barbara Stout reveals a personal iconography that is influenced by primitive art and mythic figures, but ultimately stems from her imagination. The images in her Gods, Beasts, and Mortals show are whimsical, cartoonish and rooted in the mystical.Tendrils of black ink race across all of the pieces in a modern Art Nouveau style. At times they loosely resemble humans, but most often they outline invented figures. In the same vein as Paul Klee, these works seem to point to a deeper meaning with their imbedded symbols, but the significance is unknown to the viewer.

Because of their indecipherable subject matter, these works largely fall into the realm of quaint decorative pieces. Ooh La La, a red, white and black drawing, leans so far toward farce that it is divorced from its purported historical foundations. Any spiritual bridge is broken by Stout's recurrent use of handlebar mustache motifs and her frivolous approach to substantial subjects like love.

The gallery's Wild Card Show is comprised of works by encaustic painter, Tanya Kirouac. In Discoveries plant life images are shaped from many layers of wax and pigment. The artworks seem to radiate warmth as rich shades of hazel green, violet and maroon coalesce on the panels.

Bold vermilion flowers abound in big red, one of her larger paintings. Reminiscent of Cy Twombly's floral paintings, the work features loosely formed, free-floating flowers. In the background, shades of yellow melt into pools of orange and cream.

Like the other paintings in the collection, this work draws in the viewer with its accessibility. With surface textures that look like malleable wood, autumnal colors and inviting titles like serenity and passing day, this collection practically demands enjoyment of the viewer and is all too willing to supply the fodder for easy artistic consumption.

Visions runs from Sept. 10 - Oct. 24, and Discoveries runs from Sept. 10 - Oct. 3. These exhibitions are harbingers of good things to come from the Delavan this fall.

Tiki Bar

Tiki Bar? Many people have been asking, why would the Delavan Art Gallery need a tiki bar? Well, many reasons. Tiki bars are this summers new must own item. P-Diddy, Justin Timberlake, and Brittany Spears all have invested millions of dollars to have their own tiki bars. Bill was at home watching MTV Cribs when he realized that he must have one, too. The next day he proposed the idea to Reggie and believe it or not, Reggie was thinking the same thing.

That day Reggie began drawing up blue prints for the estimated 1.3 million dollar tiki bar and began construction. Katie and Lacey then put the finishing touches on the bar and now it is ready to serve all. But then Bill had another problem, who is he going to serve? Then another brilliant idea struck Bill, a luau! Of course every tiki bar needs to be opened with a killer luau.

Everything written above was all in the mind of one of our wonderful interns, Ryan Petrus. What really happened was this: Staff had begun planning to close out the end of the current season with a great party. While brainstorming themes and ideas for the event, everyone came up with the idea of a luau. It also helped that the Gallery Manager Caroline had spent last summer living in Hawaii so she had a few ideas up her sleeve for all the amenities. Director Bill was away on vacation at the time, so the staff ran with different wild ideas on their own. They came up with so many of these, Bill couldn't help but go along with the whole plan when he got back.

Now every luau needs its own tiki bar. So where to find a tiki bar? Any of those we came across that looked anywhere near decent were at least $1000 and there was no way Bill was going to let us spend that much on something we may only use once. We asked around and no one had one that we could borrow or even rent. We were running out of options when we had another brainstorm. The amazing Reggie, who does so much at Delavan Center and Delavan Art Gallery, might be able to make us one. Caroline approached him and humbly asked, "Could you make us a tiki bar?" Reggie's response was, "What's a tiki bar and what does it look like?" Staff sprang into action and looked up some pictures for him and found a few rough plans to give him an idea of the look and measurements of the bar, and next thing we know, he's creating us our very own tiki bar. Only using the measurements for the height and width of the bar, Reggie had the rest all planned out in his head.

Just about everyone has had a hand in the creation of our tiki bar. Its coming together nicely and we will post progress pictures of it's creation and evolution soon.

The staff of Delavan Art Gallery

P.S. We are already working on ideas for future uses for our tiki bar.

We Have a Nurse in the House

I have lived in Syracuse for four years this summer, and I can still remember meeting my neighbor, who is an artist. She, Lew Graham, talked about her studio at Delavan Center and how much she loved her space and her landlord, Bill Delavan who is also the Director of the Delavan Art Gallery. She kept telling me that I had to stop by and see the place. Well, it took me almost three years to discover the gallery.

First of all, I have to say that for the past 26 years, I have been moving all over the world, following my military husband. Initially, I worked as a Practical Nurse and later discovered there is more to life than medicine. I took classes at varying colleges as we moved 15 times over the years. When my husband retired and promised we wouldn’t move any more, I pooled all my credits together to find I was very close to earning my BA. Majoring in Art History and graduating from SU took up most of my time. However, I did acquire some experience in the art world before applying to the gallery.

Working as an intern and afterwards, a full time volunteer at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, gave me a wealth of experience. Also in the summer of 2007, I worked as an intern at the Albany Institute of History and Art with the Registrar in collections. I never forgot about the Delavan Art Gallery though. So, I took a chance and applied and was offered a volunteer position. I’ve been here since the middle of January of this year.

Lew was right about the personnel here. Everyone is very warm and welcoming. It didn’t take me long to feel like one of the gallery crew. The gallery manager, Caroline, put me right to work from small jobs, like watering plants, dusting pedestals, and answering phones, to hanging labels, climbing ladders for lighting, and most importantly, hanging artwork for the opening exhibits.

I look forward to getting ready for the openings the most. It entails meeting the artists and learning about the art they are submitting to the show, which I think, gives some history to the art. Helping to de-install a past exhibit then installing the new art, along with the opening reception is a lot of fun. It’s almost like changing the décor in your house and inviting everyone over for a party to celebrate the new look!

Another treat is working with the interns who are still students at area colleges. They have fresh ideas, love to work hard and have their artistic biases. The first intern I ever worked with was Kari, who majors in photography. She taught me a lot about different styles of photography and particularly wanted to hang all of the photography work that we have in the gallery. Ryan, who also majors in photography, looks at the world through the camera lens, which has become very contagious for me.

It’s also funny how my past experiences have merged with the present. At times, when Gloria, the PR Coordinator is feeling under the weather, or when Caroline tries to take off her finger with a cutting knife, or when Kari’s shoes are digging into her heels, or when Reggie, the “Very Handy Man” gets a large piece of lumber stuck in his hand and calls it a splinter, somehow, they tend to make me feel special in calling me for some medical advice or better, medical treatment.
Lew has since moved south to live near her family.

Lew, if you are reading this blog, you were right and thanks for the encouragement!

-Kathy Simpson, Gallery Volunteer

(Left: Ryan Petrus, Right: Kathy Simpson)

Return to Delavan

(Left: Ryan Petrus, Right: Kathy Simpson)

Hello everyone, my name is Ryan Petrus and I am the new intern here at the Delavan for this summer. I just finished my senior year at SUNY Purchase where I majored in photography, but I have to return next semester to finish up two required classes. My goal for next year is to return to the NYC and find a job working in either a gallery or assisting an advertising photographer. For the future, I plan to take some time to travel and work, to pay off student loans and then eventually return to school to get my MFA.

I am really no stranger to the Delavan. I have been making work in this building for years in my teacher’s studio and have been a regular visitor to the gallery since I was in high school. I originally attended Onondaga Community College for my first two years of college. Working here is nice because I get to see a lot of my old teachers’ art hanging in the gallery and see them stop in from time to time.

Since I started interning here, I have had the experience to travel out to two of our artist’s houses to pick out work for our upcoming show. I have learned how to properly hang and display artwork in a gallery setting, along with properly wrapping and organizing the art we keep in storage. Caroline, Delavan’s gallery manager, has showed me how to use the software Masterpiece to keep all of our art organized. Reggie, the man who keeps this place standing, has showed me how to maintain a gallery and the actual amount of work it takes to keep it running and working properly. Working at the Delavan and having the experience to meet other artists has enlightened me on how a gallery works and functions. I have made a lot of friends and met a bunch of artists who have made this experience fun and influential.