Article originally published in the Rutland Herald, June 9, 2005.
www.rutlandherald.com
An organization of woodworkers and artisans is recruiting new members to carve out a business niche in Rutland.
Representatives from SugarWood Gallery in Farmington, Maine, visited the city Wednesday in search of other woodworkers, potters, loggers, furniture makers and other artisans to fill the ranks of a new corporation that would stock a gallery in the newly renovated Tuttle Building on Center Street with their works.
About 15 people attended an informational meeting at the Paramount Theatre, where details about the new gallery were fleshed out.
Designed to showcase the works of approximately 30 artists, the gallery would allow artisans lacking the monetary resources or willingness to operate a retail space an opportunity to showcase and sell their products, according to Chris and Gary Krauss, two of the founders of the SugarWood Gallery in Maine.
"It's member owned so you get control over how your products are shown and sold," Gary Krauss said. "Hardly any individual here could afford a space like the Tuttle Building alone, but together we can do a lot. Believe me, if you build it they will come."
Gary Krauss said the SugarWood Gallery was proof that the collective model could work. During the first year of the gallery's operation in Farmington — a community of roughly 8,500 people in a county with a population of just over 20,000 people — he said he earned $62,000. Four years later, he said he's averaging $75,000 a year and the gallery as a whole is approaching its $1 million sales mark.
Chris Krauss said her organization is looking for about 30 members who would be responsible for supplying the gallery with their wares and paying for a share of its operation.
Initially, members would be asked to pay $300 up front for startup costs, such as utility deposits, insurance, phones, faxes, computers, lighting and other needs.
Members would also be asked initially to pay $250 a month to cover rent and operating expenses for the gallery's director, part-time staff and other bills.
But as the enterprise got off the ground, those expenses would be paid out of the facility's revenue, she said. A 40 percent portion of each sale at the gallery would be set aside to pay for the gallery's overhead costs estimated at about $7,500 a month.
The remaining profit would be divided among shareholders in a manner that would be established by a board of directors chosen and comprised of the gallery's membership.
Chris Krauss said the Wilderness Society in Maine, which she works for, helped to start the gallery in Farmington and has been interested in some time in opening another gallery elsewhere in New England.
But she said it wasn't until a delegation from Rutland visited her gallery last year that she found the right location.
"Why Rutland, it's really the whole Downtown Partnership," she said. "This is a town that gets it. They are committed. They've made the monetary commitment to put back into the downtown. We feel very strongly that this is where we should be."
And the 2,400-square-foot first floor of the Tuttle Building would be the perfect place to house the gallery, Mary Ann Goulette, executive director of the partnership, said.
Situated near the downtown on a street that is already home to a number of arts and crafts stores, the newly renovated building would make a great display case for custom-made works, she said.
"We were trying for the perfect match. When you look at those windows it just says 'Gallery,'" Goulette said.
Eleven artisans from Maine have already paid to be part of the Rutland gallery and the pitch made in Rutland had a positive reception.
Six of the people — including a banking vice president, a city aldermen and a former city clerk — at the meeting said they planned to join the gallery.
"The business plan was probably the most attractive piece from my perspective," said Randy Martelle, a vice president at Heritage Family Credit Union in Rutland. "I'm really comfortable with a cooperative type of network and this is attractive because breaking into retail is tough."
Martelle said when he's not at the credit union, he can often be found making grandfather clocks, cabinets and other wood crafts that he usually gives away to family and friends.
"I'm running out of people to give them to," he said. "My wife can't find places to put the things I make for her anymore."
There was also a handful of full-time artisans who were very interested in the gallery concept.
Peg Gennette, who hand paints bowls for her business, Vermont Wish Bowl, said the gallery would offer the kind of venue for her products that she's been searching years for.
"I'm so excited about this," she said. "I don't think it would take more than two years to make big money with this."
People interested in learning more about the gallery or becoming a member can call Goulette at 773-9380.
Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.
Artisans set sights on Tuttle Building
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