Article originally published in the Rutland Herald, July 9, 2005.
www.rutlandherald.com
By Brent Curtis Herald Staff
Organizers trying to open a gallery for woodworkers and other artisans in Rutland said they need more members before the doors open next month.
Representatives from SugarWood Gallery in Farmington, Maine came to Rutland for the first time a month ago 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 with their works in the newly renovated Tuttle Building on Center Street.
The group originally hoped to find 30 members, who would be owners and shareholders in the gallery. But after a month of recruiting, the group has signed agreements with just 18 artists, according to Gary Krauss, one of the founders of the SugarWood Gallery in Maine.
"We've lowered the number a little bit. We think we can do it with 25 members," he said Wednesday afternoon.
The gallery has almost all of the furniture makers it would need, he said, but could still use potters, soft glass blowers, quilters, tapestry makers and other craft makers, he said. Unfortunately, most of the people who attended an informational meeting on the gallery Wednesday were furniture makers.
The gallery, which could open quietly later this month during the annual sidewalk sales in Rutland, could also use more Vermonters in the ranks.
Eleven of the 18 members who have signed up thus far are consigners from the gallery in Maine.
Al Wilkinson, a city aldermen who is one of the seven Vermonters who has signed up, said he believed craft makers in the area are hesitant because they don't know how the operation works.
"It's a new idea, a new venture. They don't know anything about the SugarWood Gallery," he said. "They wonder where the catch is, where the hook is that's going to nail them later, but there really is none. It's a legitimate enterprise."
Designed to showcase the works of roughly 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, Krauss said.
Krauss said 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.
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 revenues, he 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.
The enterprise in Maine has proven so successful that consigners like David Pollock of Fayette, Maine, said he was eager to get on board with the new gallery more than 150 miles from his home.
"It works because it's very unique," he said. "There aren't a lot of galleries out there with character. Most of them all look alike. But when you walk into SugarWood, you know it's someplace you've never been before."
People interested in learning more about the gallery or becoming a member can call 773-9380.
Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.
Gallery seeking resident artists
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