Friday, Sep. 19, 2008

Gallery cultivates young art talents

By SARAH JUNEK

Marissa Ford comes into the studio in blue jeans, a brown T-shirt and flipflops. With a pair of aviator sunglasses perched atop an espresso pageboy hat, she slips a grin at her latest artistry as she holds it up to her mentor, Jenny Tilbury.

It is of a wispy red heart-shaped strawberry with swirls of grey on top a background of meandering playing cards, and it looks like it’s about to drip red paint onto the floor.

"It’s not wet," Ford answers in anticipation of Tilbury’s first question when new works are brought to the Young Artists of Texas gallery.

"You’d be surprised how many come in here wet, so I always ask," Tilbury later explains.

The nonprofit Young Artists of Texas was started in 2005 after Tilbury and her husband overheard a restaurant manager shoo away a young artist requesting to hang artwork in his restaurant. No one should have to go through that, she thought after seeing the artist’s discouragement.

"At first I just had one or two artists who said, 'Oh, will you help me get my stuff started,’ and the next thing you know I was wearing myself out hauling art everywhere," she said.

The gallery, set up in an abandoned auto repair shop off U.S. 377 in Old Town Keller, still has two garage doors in the front but a built-in classroom next to automotive drains in the floor set up in the back for teaching sessions with the students.

Wanting to create a relaxed environment to give young artists a chance in the professional world, the nonprofit’s founder says the informal setting is intentional.

"They’re so intimidated when they walk into a gallery," Tilbury said. "We want them to feel comfortable and to ease into that process," so they show here first.

Works by the artists, who are 18 to 25 years old, have been on display at Keller Town Hall this month and are selling at a one-per-day average.

"We are very proud of our local talent and look forward to having them display their artwork," said Amanda Jacobs, who coordinates the city’s monthly art shows.

So do Mike Gerra and Kim Patrick-Gerra, who opened the new Art251 in Keller Town Center to help put new contemporary Texas artists on the map. They have work by Trish Biddle, the official artist of the 2008 Kentucky Derby, hanging next to other local artists just on their second showing.

Young Artists of Texas director Melissa Ayr has work on display at the Art251, as do eight other Keller artists. Art251 is planning to include the group’s young artists in their display.

"That’s why I’m supportive of YAT, because they give young artists a bit of an edge," said Biddle, also the official artist of the 2009 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

In the middle of proposing a concept to contacts with the Grammy Awards for this year’s bid to design their poster, Biddle said, "It costs money to apply for these things."

"All of our services our free," Ayr said. The nonprofit pays entry fees to shows, and if a piece of art sells, it gets 20 percent – a much lower rate than professional gallery agreements, she said.

The group hosts professional development seminars each month to teach anything from taxes to Web design to marketing skills. They publicize shows at area universities and local high schools and through word of mouth.

With the organization, "They get mothering," said Tilbury. "I don’t think there’s another one like it in the state."