Looking Back on More Than Three Decades of Accomplishments with the Santa Fe Gallery Association
RIGHT: KATE RUSSELL
O’Meara served as Santa Fe Gallery Association’s first president. There were no coordinated art walks in Santa Fe in those days, and show openings often took place on Sundays, a reflection of the galleries’ informal, predominantly local focus and independent approach. In fact, the fledgling association’s biggest challenge was convincing galleries to join, notes Dewey, who took the helm for the organization’s second year. Owners of some major art establishments didn’t believe they needed to work together, although many of them later saw the benefits of membership and joined. Setting standards Another pressing issue in the early 1980s in the minds of many was competition from other regional art towns. Scottsdale, Arizona, in particular, appeared as a rising threat that some feared could wipe Santa Fe’s status as a Southwest art destination off the map. “There was a lot of discussion about how to maintain our brand and identity as an art destination in the Southwest,” remembers Marie Longserre, who served as SFGA president in 1984 and 1985. “It’s so funny how we thought Santa Fe was so small and fragile and the big guys would take over. I just can’t imagine that being a main topic today.” As it turned out, of course, there was room for more than one major player in the regional art market. Longserre, in her twenties and working for El Taller Gallery when she headed the SFGA, brought to the organization enthusiasm, energy, and a love of the business end of art. Among the association’s accomplishments during her tenure was a stronger focus on branding and marketing Santa Fe as a destination for fine art. Longserre has since gone on to head the Santa Fe Business Incubator, where she has served as president and CEO for the last 15 years. While she acknowledges helping SFGA members hone their business sense, she also gives credit to the more experienced gallery owners at the time for the wisdom to steer the art community Marie Longserre toward greater professionalism and cooperation. “I always had the feeling I was in the presence of people who had a great vision for Santa Fe,” she says of the association’s founding members. “They possessed a tremendous depth of business and art experience.”
John Schaefer
The pulse of change While the SFGA made major strides in its first few years, the late 1980s, perhaps as a result of the city’s tremendous growth spurt, saw a relative leadership vacuum in the association. Membership waxed and waned, with a loose measure of organization but no official president or board between 1987 and 1990. This was a dynamic period in the Santa Fe art scene, however. A number of now-longstanding galleries opened their doors in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Zaplin Lampert, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Peyton Wright Gallery, and Turner Carroll Gallery. Others such as Sena East and Sena West, also going strong at the time, were among Santa Fe’s “top galleries run by directors with a powerful vision and good eye. It was an exciting time,” recalls John Schaefer, owner of Peyton Wright and SFGA president in 1991. santafegalleryassociation.org SFGA Art Guide 2012/2013 trendmagazineglobal.com
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