In my outside the gallery life, I am obsessed with competitive cooking shows. I sate myself with the Gordon Ramsey franchise (save when was young and ridiculous) while I await the next season of The Great British Baking Show. Next to art (and my silly cat), it’s a happy place.
On one of the millions of episodes in whatever season, a competitor shared that when his young son was having difficulties in school or with whatever plagues a small person, he’d tell him, “Don’t worry – you can do hard things.” Before he left to compete on the show, his son slipped a note in his pocket with this motto to help root him on.
I love that – “you can do hard things.”
As I reflect on the AMcE’s third year, I remind myself of this because running a small business is indeed hard. You have to be tough, soft, firm, flexible, intuitive, pragmatic, open, and omniscient. You have to acknowledge that you don’t know what you don’t know and then fix it. You have to pivot and bend when you’ve just resolved to leaning in another direction. You’ll get tested at every turn and when the rewards come, you momentarily bask in their glow then gently put them aside because it’s onto the next task at hand.
All that said, it is a nothing less than a complete privilege to do this hard and wonderful and amazing thing called AMcE. Curating art shows, working with artists, creating a space for humans to gather, connect, and be inspired is a dream come true.
And a major part of this dream involves you. I remain incredibly grateful for all the gallery’s friends, artists, neighbors, fans, and family for making these past three years nothing less than sublime. Your ongoing warmth and welcoming, kind words and support have made every step of this journey a gift. I wish I could bottle and sell what you’ve given me – everyone should be so lucky to experience it.
In homage to AMcE’s first three years, I’m taking this space to share some gallery history highlights. I have to say, the ride has been great.
The beginning: In June 2021, the gallery’s debut show was Sommerset with Anne Austin Pearce. I met Anne in KC, MO when I curated a show there way way back. We bonded straight away and stayed connected. The show featured her series Path, which was an homage to her papa that she lost when she was nine. The year before opening the gallery, I lost my papa and felt that this show was a way to replace some of the grief with joy. If you recall the silly monster finger puppets I handed out at the opening, they were in his honor (and if you care as to the why, feel free to ask as I am happy to share the fond memory.)
Here’s a look at Anne’s show. It received plus in serval media outlets, which was an auspicious start. The lovely Brangien Davis wrote about her show and the gallery’s opening for Crosscut – you can read the piece here. Cascade PBS also ran a piece that you can watch here. The Capitol Hill Seattle Blog also did a very nice piece on the gallery opening and Anne’s show.
Last year, the Seattle Times ran a piece naming AMcE (and yours truly) as an up-and-coming, “next gen” gallery (and dealer).n You can read the article here. As a new kid on the block and as a recent L.A. transplant still relatively new to Seattle, it was a profound rite of passage. My many thanks to Margo Vansynghel for her belief in the gallery, its program, and well, me.
One of my goals was to help invigorate the creative economy here in Seattle. To that effect, I am pleased to share that a project my wonderful colleagues Judith Rinehart, Phen Huang and Laura Zeck and I have worked tirelessly on for two years – Art + Culture Week Seattle – will debut in September 2024! Art + Culture Week will be a citywide celebration of the arts, cultural and creative community of Seattle and give a nod to all the agencies and artists that make up its diverse fabric. Stay tuned for more on that!
Once again, my sincere thanks to everyone for everything. Cheers to a wonderful future together!
xx
McLean
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