By Susan Woodworth
By the time you read this newsletter, TRAG’s Gallery Art/in weekend August 28th, 29th 30th will have come and gone, and on September 2nd the TRAG desk’s welcome sign will have been turned on. The 4 musketeers: Trieste Andrews, Holly Kroening, Jeanne Kelly Brown and I spent lots of sweaty, fun and encouraging hours working together in the Gallery. Cheri Bosserman connected TRAG to our WIFI and set up the iPad for square charges – now ready for the Gallery’s first sale. Come visit, or bring your Art in for the September October rotation, and you will find new paint, new carpet, moved cubbies and jewelry cabinets, mopped floors and more slat wall sheets so pictures can be hung without holes in the walls.
The new Yvonne’s at Singer Hill has also given us permission to hang 2D art in the café at their discretion. We will have the large area in the cafe room that leads into the Gallery. September and October will feature art from TRAG’s artists. Moving forward, we will dedicate this space for emerging artists from our local schools and colleges.
The new TRAG gallery committee continues to organize and do the necessary work to reopen our space. TRAG has a new Gallery/Artist contract, Indemnity and Hold Harmless Agreement and 2D and 3D tags and labels for artwork. These forms are all located on the TRAG website.
Social distancing rules will be strictly adhered to. All art items will have visible tags for customers to view without having to pick them up. If customers wish to pick up the art, gloves will be required and supplied by the Gallery manager. As with all retail spaces at the present time, we will have social distancing signs, gloves, hand sanitizer, and masks required and available for all.
We have had to follow the lead of Yvonne’s cafe opening in fits and starts in trying to pick a reopening date for the gallery. Our current rotation for September/October was chosen to whet the appetite of the customers. Our goal is then to provide a full November/December rotation for holiday shopping. As we move into the new year of 2021, rotations will be 3 months each.
As I painted in the gallery over the last weekend, I had the first exciting glimmer of what Yvonne’s cafe clientele attendance (and potentially our own) will be like. My first clue was seeing “so many cars” parked all around the cafe. As I entered the café, I found people sitting at tables on the sidewalk, and people waiting to go in as they adhered to the social distancing rules. All this – and Yvonne’s was still only serving coffee and pastries. The cafe will start serving breakfast the last weekend of August. Yvonne and her staff are just lovely and are excited as we are for TRAG’s potential for exposure.
Note some TRAG gallery changes as we work with our new tentmates of Yvonne’s at Singer Hill. TRAG artists coming to the gallery to work or visit must use the cafe’s main door. The door that enters the large room where the Gallery is located will remain locked per the cafe’s request. This is due to current COVID restrictions and ensuring that no more than the maximum number of people are allowed in the café space at one time. The café staff will be mentioning our Gallery as they bring customers to their seats. We can use that door to put our Gallery sandwich board out each morning but place it by the main door. Make sure the door is relocked after reentering the café. Also, the café’s hours are 7am – 3pm. We will address those hours for the next rotation. Pre-Covid Singer Hill Cafe gave a TRAG members a 10% discount on any purchases made while working in the gallery. As Yvonne’s is just starting and having to run at 1/2 capacity we will not be asking for any discounts. Last but not least – make sure you wear your masks while working or visiting the gallery with noses covered. This is a state requirement for service industries.
If you have questions and concerns, please feel free to let the gallery committee know. Please be kind. Keep in mind that we are all volunteers working our hardest to promote you and our TRAG gallery. The suggestion box is gone. In its place is a blank journal for ongoing comments, suggestions and questions. Kind of like a Gallery Diary. These are difficult times, and we welcome not only suggestions, but any help you can give.
We welcome you to share our opening on your social media platforms and to all your friends and family. TRAG Gallery and Yvonne’s at Singer Hill will be open 7 days a week 9-2pm starting September 2nd. See you there!
