From Galleries Where All Hands Help In Their Own Space
By
D. Dominick Lombardi

From The New York Times
Sunday, October 1, 2000

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“The Piermont Flywheel Gallery in Piermont, established in 1992, is a storefront on a commercial street.   Its membership is 20, and it features two gallery spaces; one is primarily used for one-person shows, and the other is for group exhibitions.

“We run at a 19-month cycle,” said the gallery president, Gene Powell, a painter from Valley Cottage, near Nyack.  “This way, everyone gets a chance to have a one-person show that runs three weeks.  We also have a website where you can go see what we have on display and to see additional work by our member artists.”

As with many cooperatives, the members come from as far away as they are willing to commute.  The Piermont gallery has members from Putnam and Orange Counties, from New Jersey and from Connecticut as well as two from Piermont, Sally Savage, a photographer, and Margaret Grace a painter “who also happens to be our founding mother,” Mr. Powell said.

Right now, the gallery is looking for a few new members.  “The only thing that we won’t consider is craft such as jewelry and ceramics,” he said.  “We first and foremost look at the quality of the work.  We ask potential members to submit slides and supportive materials as well as four original works.  When we review the work of applicants, there must be a quorum present, and if the artist receives a majority of votes, they are asked to join.”

Artists have a variety of reasons for joining a cooperative gallery.  “you can do what you want here,” said Margery Deckinger Myerson, a painter from Nanuet.  “There’s no one telling you, “You can’t do paintings that combine orange and green.” That actually happened to me.  I was told the painting would not sell with that color combination.”

William Chaiken, a painter from Hillburn, N.Y. says that being part of a cooperative gives him the time to spend on his work that he used to spend trekking from gallery to gallery.  “I’ve had many shows in commercials galleries in the city, and they don’t like to give out your home address,” he said.  “Here, we promote the artist as an individual.  Visitors and prospective buyers can look at our work here at any time, and they can reach us directly through the gallery."

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