You own a gallery. You see yourself in competition with other galleries. So you pull in your own direction. I mean, it's the thing to do, right?
Wrong. Your competition are the trinket shops along the beach and tourist traps. The tourists do not know you exist, an they are not going to leave Beach Drive or the Beach itself. If you think of yourself and your gallery as a destination, check your bloated ego at the door. The only thing that is going to persuade a tourist to leave the cluster/clot of other tourists is a destination of multiple potential stops (in part because they think there will be others like themselves there. That means The 600 block, Central Arts District, and Warehouse District, not one single gallery.
An arts community is far more attractive than one single gallery.
It is time to think bigger. This is why Beach Drive works, or the Beaches, Disney and all the other parks, etc.
--- Luis
Unless, of course, your gallery is ON beach Drive.
ReplyDeleteYet all the galleries on Beach Drive are gone, except for Trinity, and it is in a different class (one that seems to make more money than most others, btw, thanks to its highly personable staff -- every gallery owner could learn a lot from Allen, Margaret and Elena).I do not think Beach Drive is a magic location for anyone save bars, restaurants, realtors' offices and large institutions. It is hardly a cultural destination. If I was going to open a gallery on Beach Drive, it would be a flamboyantly decorative one.
ReplyDeleteThe key to a better future for Saint Pete lies in diversity.