Amy Goodwin, a painter and professor of art at the Rhode Island School of Design, didn’t see it coming that McGowan Fine Art’s tenure in Concord was coming to a close.
Goodwin, whose work is currently featured at the Hills Avenue gallery, has had mixed experiences with galleries. But it was clear that McGowan is one of the good ones, she said.
“Sometimes it just feels like a big hassle, but with McGowan, they were always sincere, professional, courteous, not just with their patrons but with their artists,” Goodwin said.
She understood well that galleries have struggled in a depressed economy and with the rise of internet sales, but, “I don’t know,” she said, “I just thought they were impervious somehow, that they have strategies to negotiate this current market.”
Sarah Chaffee, who has been the gallery’s director for two decades, announced this week that she hasn’t been impervious. She plans to close up shop this summer after enough time that she can meet her obligations to her artists, she said. McGowan Fine Art was established in 1980.
That’ll mean a pressing change for Chaffee, who is co-owner, and her employees. Chaffee said she’s unsure where her career will take her, and she’s squaring up to the reality that it could be a departure from the art world.
“I’m not sure what owning an art gallery really prepares you for,” she said.
But Chaffee is also grappling with what the gallery’s closing means for her artists and the Main Street community.
Ryan Linehan of the Kimball Jenkins School of Art lamented that local artists would have one less place to establish a name for themselves with McGowan’s closing.
“I think the biggest hit is going to be to the artists,” Linehan said. “McGowan did a fantastic job representing them.”
He added of the gallery’s closing: “It’s just going to limit what (artists) can get for exposure. That’s so important for an artist, and most artists are horrible at it. Most of them will admit they’re horrible at self-promotion. It’s a tough thing.”
The increasing popularity of internet sales has given artists increased freedom to market themselves. But Linehan said they’ll spend about 80 percent of their time selling, limiting their ability to create, which isn’t the proportion most artists want.
Mike Howat, a Manchester painter who was interested in showing his work at McGowan, likened a relationship with a gallery to a musician getting a record deal or a fashion designer having a retailer.
“If you’re a musician, it’s not critical you’re under a record label, but it helps tremendously having someone market on your behalf,” he said. “It’s hard to sell clothing if you don’t have a retailer.”
Plus, he said, “There’s just something about the raw experience of seeing artwork in person. It’s an emotional experience.”
Chaffee said she works with a number of artists who say she’s their only sales outlet.
“Many of them are not interested in the actual sales part,” she said. “They just want to paint or sculpt or do whatever they want to do. They don’t want to become marketing experts.”
Then there’s the community aspect, Chaffee said. When people turn to the internet to scoop up inexpensive art, they’re not shepherding local artists’ careers, but they’re also disengaging from the local business community.
Chaffee said part of art galleries’ suffering is the same trend that is felt broadly among retail outlets.
“A lot of retail is difficult. It’s that rise of online buying,” she said. “That’s something communities should pay close attention to. They have to decide what they want their towns to look like.”
The people who own small businesses downtown are in many cases just trying to make a living doing something they’re passionate about, whether they’re selling soup or art, she said.
“When those businesses aren’t around, for me, it’s a lot of the glue in the community,” she said. “I think downtown Concord is very important to the city of Concord. It’s where we meet. It impoverishes the community in more than just shopping opportunities” when locally owned businesses close.
If Concord is going to be a cultural destination, it’s going to take a strong buy-in from more than just the people of Concord, Chaffee said.
“Every town is trying to rebrand itself as a cultural destination, and the population is just too small,” she said. “My customers come from all over New England. Concord doesn’t support me, not alone.”
The American Water Works Association is calling this week “National Drinking Water Week,” and Concord General Services is encouraging residents to get to know their drinking water.
Most of the city’s water comes from Penacook Lake, and a mind-boggling 4 million gallons a day is processed by the water treatment plant, according to a statement from General Services.
The plant’s supervisor, Charlie Roberts, will attend a drinking water festival in Keene this week, which will be attended by about 400 fourth-graders. When the students and their teachers vote on the best-tasting water, Concord will have a chance to defend its title.
The city won that contest last year.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)