When selecting Gruen Galleries as our gallery to research and get to know, we as a team, were all too excited to visit this space in person and see the wonderful work that we viewed on their website. The website promotes open gallery hours Monday-Saturday from 11-6pm and Sunday from 11-5pm. Even after calling this gallery and being told that walk-ins are welcome, this proved not to be the case on the Monday that we visited Gruen Galleries.
As soon as we parked, we were taken back by all of the galleries that flooded the West Superior street of Chicago. Our initial thought was how wonderful it would be to take a group of students to an area that promotes such a community of artists in an urban setting. When approaching Gruen Galleries, we got a welcoming feeling as the doors to enter were propped open giving us an indication that we were warmly being invited inside. As we stepped inside, we immediately noticed sculptural blue dishes on the wall to the left. We both began to take pictures and a few seconds later heard a voice coming from further back in the gallery say, “No photos please” in a blunt harsh tone. This was a whiplash of emotional pull after being welcomed by the open doors and beautiful artwork in the doorway. Discouraged by this, we were not going to let it dictate the rest of the visit, so we proceeded down the hallway towards the main gallery space.
As soon as we parked, we were taken back by all of the galleries that flooded the West Superior street of Chicago. Our initial thought was how wonderful it would be to take a group of students to an area that promotes such a community of artists in an urban setting. When approaching Gruen Galleries, we got a welcoming feeling as the doors to enter were propped open giving us an indication that we were warmly being invited inside. As we stepped inside, we immediately noticed sculptural blue dishes on the wall to the left. We both began to take pictures and a few seconds later heard a voice coming from further back in the gallery say, “No photos please” in a blunt harsh tone. This was a whiplash of emotional pull after being welcomed by the open doors and beautiful artwork in the doorway. Discouraged by this, we were not going to let it dictate the rest of the visit, so we proceeded down the hallway towards the main gallery space.
The woman that told us not to take photos was sitting at a desk in the main space and two other people, a male and a female, were in what sounded like a heated conversation on the phone in another room in the gallery connected to this main space. At this point we were not greeted or talked to so we decided to take a look around. We saw stunning 2-D and 3-D works; however, there were not plaques with information pertaining to the artist, media used, or statement on the artwork next to or around any of the pieces. We also couldn’t help but notice that many pieces of art were not mounted to the wall and were sitting on the floor. This didn’t give us the indication that all works were being properly displayed and cared for. We also noticed random pieces of materials such as a cardboard box and tissue paper lying about. The conclusion that we came to is that this gallery may not be the most well-kept and orderly, so we questioned its credibility.
We then were acknowledged by the lady who was in the other room on the phone a bit earlier. She asked us how she could help us, and we responded to her explaining that we chose this gallery to research for a school project. She said coldly, “I don’t have time to answer questions today.” We were a little taken back by this but were not going to pry. After having seen everything on the main floor we started up the staircase. We were told that we could not go upstairs and view the rest of the gallery. The man who was on the phone then asked us again, “How can we help you?” There was no communication between the three of them and we again explained why we were there. The response that we got from him was put bluntly: “We are not a museum. We sell art to put food on our plates.” That was more than enough information for us to understand what this gallery mainly focuses on.
We most definitely felt judged by the way that we looked when we came into the gallery. Although dressed presentably, we may not have looked like people that were about to be buying the artwork hung on the walls (or sitting on the floor) of the gallery. However, we very well could have been, and this gallery would have lost our sale due to the inconsiderate treatment that we received. This is also interesting as this gallery is surrounded by many other galleries adjacent and across from it. One would think that competition is high, so it is crucial to work hard and effectively connect with buyers in order to sell artwork. This must not be their business approach as we both decided we would not purchase artwork from such an unwelcoming venue.
All in all, this would not be a place to take a class on a field trip to. This gallery is only interested in selling art and not the art in and of itself. However, the silver lining of it all is that we both have come to the realization that it is essential to do extensive research and visitation of galleries if you are considering taking students on a field trip to said galleries. We have also a deepened value of “judging a book by it’s cover.” Gruen Galleries presented itself to be a warm, welcoming, and wholesome gallery; this proved to not be the case after we experienced it. We also felt judged by our cover from the gallery employees. They didn’t see us as the buyers of art that they want; therefore, we were not worthy of their time. While there are many galleries out there that would educationally benefit students, we do not think that Gruen Galleries would be one of them.
We then were acknowledged by the lady who was in the other room on the phone a bit earlier. She asked us how she could help us, and we responded to her explaining that we chose this gallery to research for a school project. She said coldly, “I don’t have time to answer questions today.” We were a little taken back by this but were not going to pry. After having seen everything on the main floor we started up the staircase. We were told that we could not go upstairs and view the rest of the gallery. The man who was on the phone then asked us again, “How can we help you?” There was no communication between the three of them and we again explained why we were there. The response that we got from him was put bluntly: “We are not a museum. We sell art to put food on our plates.” That was more than enough information for us to understand what this gallery mainly focuses on.
We most definitely felt judged by the way that we looked when we came into the gallery. Although dressed presentably, we may not have looked like people that were about to be buying the artwork hung on the walls (or sitting on the floor) of the gallery. However, we very well could have been, and this gallery would have lost our sale due to the inconsiderate treatment that we received. This is also interesting as this gallery is surrounded by many other galleries adjacent and across from it. One would think that competition is high, so it is crucial to work hard and effectively connect with buyers in order to sell artwork. This must not be their business approach as we both decided we would not purchase artwork from such an unwelcoming venue.
All in all, this would not be a place to take a class on a field trip to. This gallery is only interested in selling art and not the art in and of itself. However, the silver lining of it all is that we both have come to the realization that it is essential to do extensive research and visitation of galleries if you are considering taking students on a field trip to said galleries. We have also a deepened value of “judging a book by it’s cover.” Gruen Galleries presented itself to be a warm, welcoming, and wholesome gallery; this proved to not be the case after we experienced it. We also felt judged by our cover from the gallery employees. They didn’t see us as the buyers of art that they want; therefore, we were not worthy of their time. While there are many galleries out there that would educationally benefit students, we do not think that Gruen Galleries would be one of them.
Source:
https://gruengalleries.com/home.html
https://gruengalleries.com/home.html