Featured Gallery Owner Interview
Art Core sat down with St Simon Islands gallery owner Alice Parker to discover what the other side of art is like and how we might better understand what the gallery business is looking for from artists.

ART CORE: What inspired you to open a gallery?

Alice: A gallery is something I have wanted to do since I was a girl, but never had the guts to do it until now!

ART CORE: What do you believe a gallery brings to a community?

Alice: Visual and mental inspiration! Artists amaze people with their interpretations, and the gallery is a place where people can talk and share ideas. At each of our openings we provide time for the Artist to speak about their art. This opens a dialogue with people who attend.

ART CORE: What do you look for in an artist when decide to represent them?

Alice: In a word, greatness...artists who are really good at what they do.

ART CORE: What period of art is your favorite and how has that influenced your gallery?

Alice: I do not have a favorite period per se, because many eras have influenced our artists. I try to show a really broad range of work & try to be open to all sorts of medium, subject, etc.

ART CORE: What advise would you give an artist looking for a gallery show?

Alice: For an exhibition, it is good for an artist to have a body of work along the same theme. For example we just did an exhibition of new paintings by Michelle Berg Radford, all of which were scapes of Coastal Georgia Islands. The continuity of the art creates a striking display.

ART CORE: Where do you see the role of galleries in the next few years?

Alice: I feel it is still important for galleries to educate people of all ages & to connect them to artists.

ART CORE: How has the business of galleries changed in the past few years?

Alice: The business has changed recently because of the economy. Most artists are not producing the volume of work they did a few years ago. But we are seeing evidence of a pick up, and hope to keep our artists busy doing what they love doing!

ART CORE: You bring the eye of an artist to your shows. Tell us about your background and how that’s been incorporated into your gallery image.

Alice: My background is art history, which I feel keeps me "open" and receptive to all kinds of works. I do like showing a broad range of aesthetic styles and feel diversity in a gallery is a good thing.

You can find more information about contacting the gallery, upcoming exhibitions, directions and images of artist's work at www.Parkerartgallery.com