Small Business Spotlight: Cassie Garner, Co-Founder and Gallery Director, Gamut Gallery

Article by Becky Fillinger

Cassie GarnerWe spoke to Cassie Garner, co-Founder and Gallery Director of Gamut Gallery, about the life a gallery director and shows coming up this year. Looking for a fun activity for this Saturday? A new exhibit - Setting the Groundwork - opens this weekend. The gallery has price points for all collectors and is jam packed with new art right in the neighborhood.

Q:  Was it a lifelong dream of yours to be involved in the world of art galleries? Please tell us how this career came to be for you.

A:  From a young age I knew I wanted to be connected to the arts. As I grew older the self judgement that many of us experience took over and I walked away from that idea. I eventually got reignited with the love of art and went to college for design, graduating in 2009. It was around that same time that I met Jade Patrick on the dance floor, and she invited me to come and make art at this event she started called CoLab. It was this art night that was the beginning of Gamut Gallery. For two years folks gathered for this weekly art night experience, where there could be anywhere from 3 to 30 of us creating and learning from one another - we would have musician friends there making music or DJing almost every Thursday. This night carried on for a couple of years and our bonds all grew stronger.

One evening Jade came to the space and asked if we wanted to open an art gallery. Her husband James Patrick suggested the idea and we ran with it. We were originally a collective of 10 kids, all with different skill sets, but none of us knew how to run an art space. Through years of being open we figured it out. When we moved into Elliot Park, we restructured the team and Jade, James and I became the official co-owners of the space. It has been exciting to start as a designer in 2012, and as of today I have played every roll in the gallery from graphic designer, content developer and shop manager - up to my current role of Director.

I guess the short answer is that I never imagined running a gallery, but I can't think of anything else in the world I want to do!

Q:  I notice on the Gamut Gallery web page that guiding principles for the gallery are "art fosters community, that art is for everyone, and everyone should have access to becoming a collector." Please tell us more about these notions of inclusivity.

A:  We all felt like we could connect on a bad gallery experience, whether you entered a gallery and got a sense you were taking up "space" by not knowing enough about the exhibit or artists, or perhaps were treated poorly by the staff. We never want to be one of those galleries. We want everyone who visits Gamut to have the sense that they belong and Gamut is the place they want to be.

We also want to take away the stigma that being a collector is an unattainable feat. The high-end stereotype collector has been highlighted through that depiction in novels, movies and social media. We hope to fade that stigma and educate buyers that being a collector is as simple as having two of something. The price point does not matter, it is how you feel about the piece and the story that you will get to share in regards to the artwork that catches your eye. We want to celebrate every purchase, and through that joy we hope to spark a collector culture. We want to encourage people to get excited about buying a piece of art and allow people to feel that sense of joy.

Q:  You periodically have guest curators. How are they selected? Do they choose the theme of their show in addition to selecting the artists?

A:  Most of our shows are internally curated, but we do work with outside curators on occasion. This may come from us wanting to connect with a specific artist, sometimes it comes from an ideation and/or theme we have developed and believe an artist or curator may be able to help that seed grow.

We do have one annual open call every year, C4W (Call for Work). For this particular show there is no theme and the guest curator changes every year providing a new experience for every exhibit. The guest curator creates the exhibition through their lens as they process all the submissions. We have connected with other curators, gallerists and artists - we may have an idea of whom we would like to work with ahead of time, but often it occurs as Jade and I sit down and talk over great experiences we have had with individuals over the past year.

Q:  Could you describe your typical day as a gallery director? Is there such a thing?

A:  I don't think I have a typical day, there is always so much to be done. I can be found documenting and editing photos of artwork one moment to designing graphics the next. The day can be focused around setting up the communications to artists in regard to an upcoming art exhibit, to having in-person studio visits at studios and in the gallery. A day at the gallery is never dull. We also have a gift shop and an online presence, so the admin work never lets up on our day to day operations.

Q:  What’s happening at Gamut Gallery for the rest of 2021? 

A:  Our next exhibit opens this Saturday, May 29th. Setting the Groundwork (pictured above) is a solo exhibition by Reggie LeFlore as he explores his take on the multidimensional elements of creating, storytelling, and relationships with space and time. Informed by his everyday interactions and collaborations with folks in the community, organizers, graffiti writers, curators, and fellow artists, LeFlore’s work embraces the nuances and complexities of street art. This exhibit has been amazing to curate - I have been working very closely through his ideations and processes.

Upcoming 2021 exhibits:

July 15 – August 21

Singula – A group exhibition featuring nine muralists from across the globe. 
Rodrigo Oñate has selected these artists in relation to his roots and opportunities he has created through showing his works in Chicago, Minneapolis & Mexico. He believes these artists are all story tellers through the connections they make through their use of color and their characters they create in order to search deep into personal reflection of their different realities that they live in from their surroundings to their imagination.
Featuring: @roco_drilo, @lelo_zaa, @loscalladitos, @2mil , @lizitto, @sub_urban_warrior, @ellooelloo, @chucku_art, @joyspika

September 9 – October 9

C4W:2021 – Gamut Gallery’s annual Call-4-Work exhibition.
The beauty of C4W is that there’s no predetermined theme and it is not a show that influences what art should be. Instead, Candida Gonzalez, this year’s guest curator, brings their unique perspective and interpretation of the submitted works ranging the full “Gamut” of visual media. A theme emerges through the nature of the submissions and through the lens of a guest curator.

October 23 – November 18

Barret Lee – A solo exhibition this Fall. More details coming soon!
Barret Lee is an MCAD Alumni from the class of 2016, is a multidisciplinary artist who works in a range of mediums and currently works as a freelance fine artist. Barret began exhibiting with us in 2016 during our annual “Raging Art On” and has been a stable shop artists ever since. We are excited to announce after 5 years of working with one another he will be featured in a solo exhibition! We look forward to the gallery being taken over by his wide eyed and playful characters.

December 1 – January 5, 2022

Raging Art On 2021 – Our annual “uncurated” holiday shop in a gallery setting.
Raging Art On provides a unique, consumer-conscious experience that allows any adventurous shopper to find the perfect gift for anyone on their shopping list! With the exception of selecting the participants, Gamut leaves the rest up to the local artists to decide the amount of work they show and where to show it. What results is a gallery packed from floor to ceiling with paintings, photos, prints, collectibles, handmade apparel, jewelry, housewares, and more.

Q:  How may we stay current with your news? 

A:  Our most current information is shared on our Instagram and Facebook. We do daily posts sharing new art, new artists and upcoming exhibit info! You may also visit our website that has a broader over view and you can sign up for our mailing list.

Scenes from previous exhibits:

In Between

Shimmer

From Us