Tag: Three Rivers Gallery & Gifts reopening

Opening the TRAG gallery has been penciled in for September 2^nd.   

Thirty-nine TRAG artists have been patiently waiting to fill the gallery to the brim with wonderful creations. Our goal is to follow the Oregon health guidelines in planning the safest environment for our artists and customers. 
We are limiting the number of artists at a time to bring in their art to the gallery over a 3 day period. A skeleton crew will stage the art and ready the gallery for our September 2nd opening.  We will have a mask, glove, and hand sanitizer table at our entrance and will monitor a limited customer flow for social distancing. In planning safety for our artists, some will not be working shifts in the gallery. Those who are at a higher health risk and / or hesitant to be in a more social situation will have their shifts covered by other members. Our hours will be shorter, from 9am – 2pm. 

We will not be celebrating our opening with an Artist reception in these pandemic times. We welcome you to come and see the Gallery changes, view, and possibly purchase your fellow members artwork. 

Sue Woodworth
Holly Kroening
Jeanne Kelly Brown
Three Rivers Artists Guild
Gallery Coordinators

Our schedule to reopen is being pushed out at least another 2 weeks.  

Due to COVID 19 and Singer Hill business plans I can share that we need to wait “for a go ahead”. We cannot put any dates in play at this time.      Be glad that our small gallery rooms have fresh new carpet that was installed by Trieste and her wonderful husband Roger. Roger also provided some molding stripes to complete our main room wall hanging area.  We have newly hung 4’x8′ and 2’x 4′ slat wall pieces for hanging pictures on so less wall space will have nail holes. Those came from a great find on Craigslist. I thank my husband for helping Holly and I put those up.  We were offered a great price on a rot iron jewelry display case and thank Sue Thomas and her husband for jumping from their seats immediately to pick it up.  A big thank you to Trieste Andrews who single handedly cleaned our bathroom~!!  Our small (for safety reasons) gallery cleanup/staging crew has just a bit more to pick straighten up.    

We are working on some tags that you can print to be used next to wall 2D and shelf 3D. Hang in there~!! 

Delay of plans is preferable to error. 

Sue Woodworth 
Holly Kroening
Jeanne Kelly-Brown
TRAG Gallery Coordinators

On May 24^th artists were given the opportunity to pick up their Art at the Gallery inside Singer Hill Cafe. Artists came in at 1/2 hour scheduled times, donning face masks to maintain social distancing, as Sue Woodworth and Holly Kroening helped gather their precious artwork. We are all asking “What next? When will we reopen? Is Singer Hill Cafe opening soon”? The owners of Singer Hill have wanted to sell the café business for quite some time. TRAG keeps in touch with them regularly, and we are delighted that potential new owners and creative business models are all being seriously considered. We are happy to report that all of these options always include the Three Rivers Artist Gallery. The tentative goal is to “possibly” have the Singer Hill Cafe and our TRAG gallery open the first of September 2020. Do we know that for sure – no, but let’s think positively! Be aware that we would need to be compliant with Covid-19 business restrictions and regulations. Our artists need to be thinking of how to display their art, manage their scheduled working time and being with the public. That is just a fact of this new environment we are in. 
 
The TRAG gallery management will look a bit different as we plan to reopen.  After much consideration ~ I will continue as the Gallery Coordinator. My goal is to be transparent with the workings of the Gallery, and oversee it with a fun, knowledgeable and idea-generating volunteer group.  I am looking to create a new gallery committee where big jobs can be broken down into smaller more manageable tasks. Since Cheri Bosserman is graciously taking over all of TRAG’s financing duties, we will need someone to manage the online scheduling. Holly Kroening will continue to manage our wall art. We are grateful to Vona Adams-Lawrence who has been managing all of the Gallery’s supply needs. Additionally, we need someone to watch over, cultivate and organize each rotation of gallery artists.
 
We are currently discussing some exciting new options for the Gallery when we reopen. We will continue to evaluate the 2-month versus 3-month gallery rotations. I would like to have 1-2 people dedicated to mentoring new artists regarding paperwork and salesperson skills, as they learn to work in the gallery. We also welcome ideas on the entry look to the Gallery – Something that will catch a person’s eye as they walk into the main room of the café, and a plan to implement it. Under the new management we will also continue TRAG’s “new artist jury committee”. We had our first meeting prior to our new Covid life but will meet again. I strongly see meetings held as zoom conferences or a potential outdoor meeting where we can easily comply with 6-foot distancing regulations. Our health and the accompanying chain of contacts will be a major deciding factor as we “mindfully” carry on from here. 
 
Does the idea of knowing more about the gallery, making our presence more notable in the community, and sharing and exploring new ideas interest you? I am eager to hear from you. You can contact me at gallerychair@threeriversartistguild.com I promise it will be fun and inspiring. There is nothing like art to bring a community together.

Susan Woodworth
Three Rivers Gallery & Gifts Coordinator