April 8, 2022 • 42 mins
We are joined this week by Mississippi artist and gallerist Keri Davis.
Keri has a family history in the gallery business and shares how she brings that compassion and love for her artists at Pacesetters. You'll hear all about her personal work and some tips on approaching a gallery for representation. Check out their upcoming events; they always have something fun to do.
Find Keri:
https://pacesettergallery.com/
https://www.instagram.com/pacesettergallery/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Bob Brzuszek (00:05):
Hey everyone, this is Bob Brzuszek from starkel
saying thank you for thecontinued inspiration to all the
Mississippi artists
Derek Smith (00:20):
Hello and welcome or welcome back to the
Mississippi artists to artistsPodcast, the podcast where we
get to have genuineconversations with visual
artists living all across ourstate. You just heard a
recording from Bob Brzuszekcalled in to the Mississippi
artists to artists hotline and601-342-0881 Remember if you're
(00:41):
an artist and want to giveyourself a shout out, give
someone else a shout out talkabout a show coming up or any
events that you might have goingon. Go ahead and give us a call
in and leave a message and we'llplay it live on air. We have a
new art exhibition open at thelittle yellow building.com Its
body it's an exploration offigurative artwork by
Mississippi contemporary artistsso go check that out. And if you
(01:04):
haven't seen it yet the magazinehas launched so try be art
mag.com Has your free editionAre we still have a few copies
left of the limited editionprinting. So go to try B rt
mag.com. You can check outsouthern exposure you can check
out some of the other programsthat we have going but there's
lots of ways to get involved.
Our special guest today isCarrie Davis of Pace Setter
(01:25):
gallery. And they have a coupleof events coming up that they
wanted you to know about. April21 through May 3 the Pace Setter
gallery is hosting theMississippi artists guild the
opening reception is on the 21stfrom six to 8pm. The Home show
this year is going to be atClyde new center pay center will
have a pop up Gallery in thefoyer featuring four different
(01:48):
artists who made workspecifically for the show. Those
featured artists will also bedoing live painting demos
throughout the shows at thesetimes. Clif speaks on April 30,
from 10am to 130, Laura Mayofrom 130 to five. And on May 1,
you have Shawn Richards from10am, to 130, and Susan
(02:10):
Wellington from 130 to five. Somake sure you go by and visit
those and make sure to tell themhello from the little yellow
building. Well that about wrapsit up for now on to the
interview.
(02:31):
Everyone and welcome back toanother episode of the
Mississippi artists to artistspodcast. We have a special guest
with us this week, Carrie Davis,Carrie is not only an artist,
but she is a gallerist inFlowood, Mississippi with Pace
Setter gallery, She's the ownerand operator. And she's also
comes from a lineage ofgallerist and has it in her
blood. So I'm excited to haveher on to talk about not only
(02:54):
her art, but her point of viewand what she's doing here in
Mississippi. Carrie, thank youfor being on with us.
Keri Davis (03:00):
Absolutely. I'm excited to be here.
Derek Smith (03:02):
So to start out, why don't you give us a little
bit about your background, andthen your history in art.
Keri Davis (03:09):
All right. So my background, I grew up in an art
gallery, my grandmother had anart gallery in South Texas. So I
spent a lot of days there withher just being around art every
day and getting to spend timewith artists as they came
through and had discussions withher about their goals. And she
(03:29):
really did influence a lot ofartists that later on had
galleries of their own, and meta number of them at the
beginning of their careers. Sogetting to be a part of that.
And you know, my whole family,we have art that's been passed
down from my grandmother'sgallery. So art becomes like a
visual history for for myfamily. And I know for a lot of
(03:52):
artists, a lot of artists thatcome in have parents or
grandparents that were artists,and that kind of inspired them
as well. So I definitelyidentify with that. So I started
off being in that gallery, andmy grandmother gave me the
opportunity to take some lessonswith a local artist when I was
(04:13):
eight. And she was verytechnical started with teaching,
you know, basic drawing of conesand spheres and, you know, real
real shading of what you reallysee. And I think that really got
me started on understanding howimportant it is to to really see
(04:36):
what you're looking at and howthe artists can put that on the
paper. So that got me reallyexcited about art. At a very
young age. I knew that the moreI worked on it, the more I would
be able to develop those skills.
And you know, through juniorhigh in high school, I did
competitions and had some greatart teachers that really were
real positive and kept me movingforward. In, you know, in that
(04:59):
in that direction, and I went toUniversity of North Texas, which
has a really strong artdepartment there, people come
from all over the nation, it'spretty competitive, it's a big
school. So you really do haveto, to jump in and kind of bring
your A game. So that reallypushed me to learn a lot of
(05:21):
different methods and take a lotof classes and different
materials. And I graduated withan art education degree, but
really heavy on studio, theyhave a Getty program there.
multiple schools got grants forthis Getty program called
(05:43):
discipline based art education,DBE. And it really focuses on
not just providing art educationfor people that are good at art.
It focuses on art criticism, andaesthetics. And someone that's
not necessarily gifted instudio, are going to get that
(06:06):
education and art and, and loveart because they are kind of
embedded in the history of it.
It's tied to math and English,and all the kind of cultural
things that art was inspired by.
And I think that that makes abig difference when you see art
from that lens, that theeducation of art isn't just
(06:30):
about art, it's about what washappening at the time, and what
were those people inspired by,and you tend to get a lot more
excited about it, when you lookat it that way. So I taught that
DBE method. And I taught in theTexas schools for six years. And
then I was able to stay homewith my three sons for a number
(06:53):
of number of years, and Ipainted murals on the side
and took my kids to a lot ofgalleries, you know, there's
great galleries, all over thecountry. And that was kind of
one of my focuses is to exposethem to, you know, science
galleries and art galleries andall of that. I think that that
(07:14):
that training really affectedhow I look at art in general.
Because I do tie in music andpoetry and, and all those things
within the gallery. So that'skind of where I am. Today, I
changed my career when I wentback to work after raising kids
and I ran a big buildingproducts company in Perl called
(07:37):
Lansing building products. Andthey pretty much hand handed the
reins over to me for the stateof Mississippi. And I learned
about how to run a big business,you know, and how to manage
people. And that that was kindof like the business bootcamp I
needed. As an artist only Idon't, I really needed the
business and art together to beable to have this gallery. And
(08:01):
we opened in July of 2021. And alot of what got me to pull the
trigger on that was a little bitof COVID. And a little bit of my
grandmother passing, she dideverything she wanted to do in
her life she traveled, she hadthe gallery, she she chose the
(08:21):
direction of her life and feltlike I was kind of not in the
right place. So that really youknow, there's always those
things that kind of push you tostep out. So we opened in July
with 45 artists, and now we have61. And we have a lot of events
and things that go on at thegallery. And it really doesn't
feel like work, you know, reallyjust, it's wonderful.
Derek Smith (08:44):
It's to build the community and to be surrounded
by creatives after so long, Imean, it's just a part of your
life, it's a part of your fromfrom start to now, it's been a
constant, to have that creativeinfluence in your life. I can
see why it would be such a joynow to be re surrounded by it
all. Yeah, absolutely. And whata great opportunity, because
(09:08):
that's something that they don'treally focus on nobody. I mean,
artists talk about it amongstthemselves, but I don't feel
like there's any true educationon the business side of art.
Because it's so random. It alldepends on which way the wind
blows in which way you want togo as to how you're going to
have to develop your business.
And it's it's findinginspiration from different
(09:29):
places like, you know, differentgalleries and other artists that
are around and seeing what theydo and adjusting it. So kudos to
you for having that businessexperience of large business
because that's crazy, largebusinesses inside.
Keri Davis (09:47):
Yeah, it was it was a great job. It was very
consuming as far as time and Ifelt like I really just got to
grab very small moments inbetween being really tired to do
my own art. And it became veryinsular, where I did not share
it with anyone, I did not havethe time to reach out to
anybody, I just had that littletiny moment. So now I'm very
(10:09):
much focused on the gallery. ButI can grab a few minutes here
and there to do my own art. Andit's like, for the first time I
have a job where I can actually,you know, include my own art,
and then also just theconversations that I have with
these other artists. And the andthe, you know, it's just so
different from being so insularis that constant community and,
(10:31):
and just talking about art withamazing artists, you know, and
doing things like this with you.
I feel like that community, allartists need it, it definitely
helps us get inspired and notfeel like you know, we're so by
ourselves, because we do createa lot by when we're alone, you
know, to kind of get in thatthat focus zone. But we do we
need that community.
Derek Smith (10:54):
So before we go on and talk about pacesetters
itself, why don't we talk alittle bit about your art, now
you create these abstract inpieces, and tell us what really
inspires you or what you've kindof played around with to develop
for yourself?
Keri Davis (11:11):
Yeah, right now, um, I mean, I feel like artists kind
of go through different phases,or now I'm painting a lot more
abstract, it always stillusually ties in to water and
movement. And, you know, birdsthat are kind of alone, you
know, a Karen's, like, there'sstrength there, and beauty, and
(11:33):
the wind and the movement ofbirds on the water, that all I
still ties in. So even myabstracts you kind of get that
feeling of the water, a stormblowing in, you know, the
feeling of wind. And I have afew pieces I just finished that
are a little bit more realistic,but they still have, you know, a
(11:56):
lot of that, that, that feelingthat that little abstracted, you
know, to try to pull in thatthat water feeling. I've always
been, I mean, I grew up swimmingalmost every day. And I love to
fish and I when I moved here,the first place I moved was
right off the Ross Barnettreservoir over a pelahatchie
(12:20):
Bay. And I had a house that wason the water in there were
beautiful willow trees in thebackyard, and I got a little
John boat. And my kids werepretty young at the time, I
think they were I think I had afour and eight and a 12 year
old. So we would jump in thatJohn boat, we would go down to
pelahatchie Bay trading post,and buy some crickets and get an
(12:40):
ice cream and just roam aroundthose little islands. And it
just, I mean, I just fell inlove with Mississippi and the
beauty of Mississippi and thatthat really really inspired a
maybe a little bit morerealistic feel to my work for a
little while, but you know, youcould just really see it and
that's kind of where that beganfor me. And I think that'll
(13:04):
always be a strong, strong thingfor me is just that tide of
water. And you work with
Derek Smith (13:12):
acrylics and inks and do you normally work on
paper or how do you pull thattogether
Keri Davis (13:18):
it's kind of both if I'm working you know with inks
and washes, I'm working onpaper, like I'm really crazy
about not having wrinkles on mypaper. So I work on like 300
pound Aqua cold press fromStonehenge a giant block you
know that seal down so like I'mreally kind of picky about the
paper I use, I just can't standit I just can't stand the
(13:40):
wrinkles and then then I work oncanvas a lot as well and do a
lot of acrylic painting withlayers and textures as well. So
I kind of bounced back and forthbut the the the point of view I
guess you know still coming fromme It's so on. And I really I
used to work in a lot moredetailed watercolor but it's
really hard when you're in thegallery and somebody walks in
(14:01):
the door the concentration levelyou have to have when you're
working on that is different soI've kind of put that aside for
right now just because it'sharder to break that
concentration and and get backto it to do a little bit more
you know abstract workespecially you know acrylic on
canvas I can step away fromit'll easier mentally sound
Derek Smith (14:23):
I'll give you breaks too. And that's that's
what about watercolors if you'rein the middle of the color swish
or if your paper is a certaindampness like you need to work
there now in blockout everythingso I can imagine that would be a
huge, like huge hurdle to beable to find time for that right
now. So going into the gallery,you opened it in in 2021. What
(14:50):
is I guess your point of view asa gallerist are your your
overall mission and As PaceSetter gallery,
Keri Davis (15:02):
so my mission is to be the connector between
Mississippi artists and thepublic. And I want to grow
cultural arts in the community,you know, for the public. And
then also for artists. I want tofurther art education, we work a
lot with some colleges and somehigh schools, allowing them to
use the space and you know, justkind of collaborating with them
(15:24):
on what we can come up with asideas. Whether they're coming
in, you know, as a, an arts, youknow, like a National Art
Society honors Art Society forjust a trip to the gallery. And
then we've had shows for likethe Millsap Jr show, and I've
hired some people to do somepart time work for me, like
Laney Hill, right now, she is aMississippi College art student,
(15:48):
and she's planning on becomingan art therapist. So that is a
great, you know, opportunity forher to kind of just be engrossed
in what's going on in thegallery. So that artistic
education, you know, that comesfrom my background. But I get to
get a lot out of thatperspective, you know, the
events we have, and things likethat kind of tie in. And then
(16:08):
just helping these artists whosome of them don't understand
the business side. We had aMississippi artists guild
meeting in January, here, I'm inthe midst of the artists guild.
And we talked a lot about how toprice your work, what a gallery
is looking for, you know, how tomake sure you step off on the
right foot when you contact agallery, and some of those
(16:29):
things that, you know, I thinkthat artists don't think about
their pricing enough. Becausewhen you have a collector coming
to you, and they're investing inyou, in your work, they want to
know if that dollar amount issomething that's repeatable,
where's that number come from.
And really, you should to beable to show either through
(16:51):
gallery records, or your ownpersonal records that there is a
tie in to you getting thatamount of money for for your
pieces in that size, and be ableto prove that you've been doing
that for a number of years. AndI think if you don't set a
price, either by this squareinch or whatever, you know, you
(17:11):
decided stick with that, youwon't have those records to show
somebody. So and that's what Ithat's what I really advise is
figure out your pricingstructure. And don't veer from
it because you're creating, youknow, your value in the market.
And you're gonna have and youshould be able to, you know,
explain that to somebody andfeel confident about it. Because
(17:35):
the confidence you have as anartist, when you're selling
something, people can feel it,people can feel if you feel
confident about what you'repricing things at. And it all
comes from a history of ofsales. So that that is something
that we discussed, you knowabout what your retail price is,
whether you're in a gallery, andyou know, and selling some stuff
separately from the gallery,figuring that out, you know,
(17:57):
figuring out that price point.
So that's the kind of stuff Ilike to do, as well as for
artists is be able to give themyou know, some guidance in those
areas as well.
Derek Smith (18:08):
That's a extremely valuable service to have
somebody who you trust,especially as an artist to come
through and non emotionally, gothrough your art and say, Okay,
this, this, these things arewhat needs to adjust, because we
get so tied into the emotionalvalue that we have on our art,
that it's that it's hard toprice it as that are you degrade
(18:31):
yourself to a level where you'relike, Here, I'll give you 50
cents to take it. You know, and
Keri Davis (18:38):
I say that more than anything. Yeah. I see people go,
Oh, I just Well, what it is, isthere is a huge divide between
why we make art, which is forourselves. And it is an
emotional tie in and we have tomake it where makers and is a
part of who we are. If we don'tmake art, we're going to be
(18:58):
decorating cupcakes, or we'regoing to be doing it comes out,
you know, you have to be makingsomething if you're a maker, but
you do make it for yourself. Andso then all of a sudden, you
crossover to this, okay, now Igotta sell it, what's the value
or the value to me, is totallydifferent than the value to the
outside world. And there's asense of rejection as well. If
(19:19):
someone if someone doesn'tconnect to your work, you know,
you do feel like are theyrejecting me because it is me,
you know. And so all of a suddenyou have this this emotional
connection to something that itreally becomes a retail sale
that you're trying to make. Sothat is a difficult thing to go
back and forth between I thinkevery artist struggles with it.
(19:39):
And I was surprised as asartists came in to the gallery
and we started strategizing atthe very beginning before we
even opened even the reallyexperienced artists were still
saying what do you think Ishould price this at? You know,
where do you think the marketwould be on this piece? And so I
was surprised about that becauseit all you know, as an art
(19:59):
artist myself, I think I have adifferent perspective than just
someone that has a gallery andisn't an artist, because I want
to provide people the servicesthat I myself as an artist need
for me, you know, so I do try tolook at it. What can the gallery
do for me, let me do that forthe other artists as well, you
know, I don't know that that'llever go away that struggle
(20:21):
between my value and the valueoutside of me, you know, I think
that will always be somethingpeople war with. And I think
that is why pricing things bythe square inch. And then don't
sell the things that have such astrong emotional connection, you
just need to keep those items,if you can't let it go at that
square inch price, then you'renot ready to let go of it yet.
(20:43):
And I think it's okay to dothat.
Derek Smith (20:46):
I, I left Mississippi and came back and in
the time that I was gone, itseems to be that there is this
middle ground that's developingwhere Mississippi, our artists
are able to test more of theirvalue. On a day to day basis.
We're not We're not an abundantstate, we have abundance and
(21:07):
talent and music and art and,and all of those things, but
we're not extremely wealthy. Andso it seems that there has been
this middle ground of galleriesthat service, the artist and the
masses are not necessarily themasses, but a greater audience
in Mississippi. So have Have youfound that testing the waters of
(21:28):
of price points and to find agreater understanding of what
Mississippi can afford, or haveyou found audience outside of
Mississippi and you ship I mean,it's it's all a big toss up.
Keri Davis (21:41):
Yeah, it's a it's a little bit of both. And you
know, being a newer gallery. Andhaving this business background,
I was able to spend time beforeI opened building out my space,
but really finding the bestsoftware and programs and
strategies for growing thebusiness outside of Mississippi.
(22:04):
And also growing it across thestate instead of just right here
in Flowood. A lot of theresearch that I did, before I
opened the gallery was about howCOVID and just you know, having
the internet available, hascreated a larger audience for
art across the world. Thebiggest thing is though, there's
(22:24):
an experience you have when youcan be close to a piece of work,
you can meet when you can meetthe artist, when you can have an
experience in the gallery thatyou lose when all of a sudden
you're buying online. But thecollectors still want some of
that experience. So having awell developed site where you
have biographies, and you have,you know, a little bit of
(22:48):
information about each piecewhere if it's purchased, you've
got somebody who has it on thewall, but can speak to what the
artist was thinking somethingabout the material, so that it
makes them an expert in some wayabout this piece that they've
purchased. So if you can givethem that experience, virtually,
(23:09):
you're gonna go a lot fartherthan you know someone that
doesn't have good pictures andand all those things. So that
was something that I reallyresearched a lot about those
online sales, where the wherethey kind of funneled to, and
where you're going to really getsome momentum if you can become
a someone that a collectorreally loves to go back and look
(23:30):
at that over and over andcontinue to use that gallery
because of those reasons. Sothat I would say, haven't that
nine months to really kind ofdevelop things before I opened
that gave me a lot of time tocome up with those strategies.
And we've shipped a number ofthings to do California and
other states. You know, as westart to get more of that
(23:52):
national footprint. I think it'svery important though because it
because it is it's just part ofour culture now that you can
find what you want, by just acouple clicks.
Derek Smith (24:03):
So tell us about how you go about finding your
artists do you are thesepersonal connections and
invitations? Do you do calls forart? Or do you have a show and
maybe collect an artist out ofthat? Like what would be the
process for an artist that wouldwant to get in contact with you?
Keri Davis (24:20):
I do think that there is a developing method for
me being a new gallery. Before Iopened I had plenty of time to
do research and then even golike on a big road trip and
legata people's, you know,studios and like that was the
greatest thing ever. I felt likeI just you know I hit the
(24:41):
jackpot. Like I'm just on thisroad trip. I'm just going to
people's studios and getting totheir houses, people that have
been in art for 30 years andhave traded art with a bunch of
other artists and their house islike a gallery you know, of all
the art that they love and getto see that and really getting
to know them on a personalbasis, and I think that is my
(25:02):
number one goal is to reallyknow the person I'm working
with, because it's a businessrelationship, and you want to
develop that long term. So youhave to feel like it's a good
fit. So I do I do a lot of that,a lot of research into their
style into their longevity intotheir viewpoint, that there is
(25:23):
some consistency in their work.
You know, there's some somepeople that have their own
website, so it's easy to seewhat they're up, you know what
they're doing. So I had a lot oftime to really investigate and
research and I had a balance inmind, of what type of type of
mediums what type ofperspectives, what sizes people
(25:44):
work in, to try to get a goodbalance for, when people walked
in the door, they would have avariety, but it would hit some
points commercially andresidentially I needed to hit.
So all of that was is, you know,kind of laid out in my mind as I
began to investigate theartists, so that was a little
easier than that part of it.
(26:06):
Now, they're all coming to me.
So I probably have one or twoartists every day walk in the
door, who are looking to get inthe gallery. I mean, it's, you
know, it's pretty frequent.
Which, you know, I mean, it'sjust, there's not a lot of
places like this. There's not noother places in Rankin County.
You know, there's othergalleries and Rankin County,
(26:28):
which is definitely developingand getting larger and larger.
Especially commercially, youknow, there's a lot of
businesses in this area. So nowI'm finding artists, one place I
did find a couple artists wasthe, the Mississippi Arts
Commission, they have a artistsdirectory on there. And I would
(26:52):
say, that's a great place forartists, it's free, you go in,
you create your artists page,and download some photos. And
that, you know, obviously, likethat is what Mac is for. And so
if you're not taking advantageof that, I would say, get your
page on there, because peoplelike me are going to be looking
at those larger, you know, kindof repositories for art. And
(27:15):
it's very, you know, said, sothat's something I recommend
everybody do, I do that for thegallery. And for myself, you
know, I added that on there. Somy informations on that. So
because I found some peoplethere, so I'm like, fine, fine.
And if somebody else is finding,I'm using the same tool, right.
And then, when I was gettingopened up, I had a couple
(27:35):
artists already in mind thatI've been following. And some of
the artists that I chose, theysaid, Hey, I have this friend,
you know, you might want tocheck out their work. So I think
it's always great. Anytimeyou're, you know, hiring
somebody, when you havereferrals, like you always know
that the person knows what youdo, and what you're looking for.
And they're only going to referpeople to you that they feel
like meet those requirements,and they feel, you know, like,
(27:58):
it's a good person to reallyrecommend. So that's where that
community of artists comes in.
The more people you know, whenthey have a good situation come
up, and they refer you isbecause you have visibility to
them. And you have some, youknow, personal relationship with
them, or they think of youwhenever they get that
opportunity as well.
Derek Smith (28:19):
And on the other end of that, if you're an artist
that gets recommended somebodyjust put their name out on the
line for you. So follow throughand do a good job and be the,
the artists companion thateverybody needs you to be. But
yeah, that's so you know, theand it's been a long, long
standing thing that or at leastit used to be that don't just
(28:43):
cold walk into a gallery, youknow that you don't know what's
going on in anybody's day. Andit can end up being a bad
impression. If you just walk inand say, Hey, I'm an artist, you
should look at my stuff. Andother than that, and like it
can, it can be charming,endearing at a point, but you
never know, if the gallerist isbusy, you never know if the
(29:05):
thing so finding those easyways, making those personal
connections are a lot easier togo in. One of the tips that we
used to be told is just startvisiting the gallery and say
hello and get to know the peoplethat work there and they're
going to get to know you. Andthen they're going to find out
you're an artist and then youknow you'll eventually have that
opportunity or just keep an eyeout for what everybody's doing.
(29:28):
But I love to hear the personalconnections that you're making
with artists, especially whenyou go in and help guide them
into the business aspect of allof it. Because it's just it's
extremely important and it's nota well known side of all of
this. So I appreciate yousharing all of that. What are
some events and things thatyou've got coming up and this
(29:52):
for your this will go up in midMarch or less?
Keri Davis (29:59):
Well I've got some stuff going on right now. But I
do want to speak to what youjust said about people getting
into galleries. There isdefinitely if you walk into a
gallery, the first thing, thegallery owner, if you think from
their perspective, that theirthinking is, this is somebody I
want to sell some art to, youknow, this is a opportunity for
(30:21):
the gallery to, you know,further one of the artists in
the gallery by being able todiscuss it with this person that
came in. So if you are anartist, the best thing to do is
identify yourself with thatperson as an artist, but tell
them that you're here, you heardabout the gallery, and you're
here to research and and do alittle research on the gallery
and learn a little bit aboutwhat the collection is about.
(30:44):
And that you know, but that isthe number one best way to do
it. Because if you spend 15minutes with that gallerist and
they're thinking that you are asales opportunity, and you act
like you're a sales opportunity,and then you leave without
purchasing and all of a law allalong, you were kind of not
being, you know, forthcoming. Ithink that's the number one
mistake that people make.
Because they want to be taken asimportant. But The Gallerist is
(31:06):
already thinking that they'refor a purchase. And then the
other thing that happens a lotis people want to pull out their
phones and show me a little, youknow, one inch by one inch
picture. At first, I was realpolite about it, and I would
look at it. But now I tell them,go ahead and go to the website,
we have artists guideline pagefor submissions, I don't want to
(31:27):
see your work on your phone, Idon't think it does justice to
your work. And it doesn't. And Idon't really have the time to
sit down and look at it the wayI like to. So I just don't look
at their work on their phones.
Because because I feel like I'mdoing them a disservice by
saying yes. So that's what Irecommend is go to the website,
(31:48):
see if that gallery hassomething already in place,
which then I'm sure they do,because they want to streamline
that process so that it'sefficient for them, see what
they need from you, if youfollow that, they're going to be
a lot more responsive, you know,to you in a positive way,
because you're following alreadytheir guidelines, which is what
they need from their artists,they need that good
(32:08):
communication, and thatunderstanding of what the
gallery needs. So you'realready, you know, you're
already ahead of the game if youdo it that way. But that's kind
of, you know, kind of, like notnot sending, you know, you know,
Facebook messengers at midnight,that's not a good idea. Or just,
you know, sending 20 differentpictures, and I have to be in
(32:30):
your gallery, like, that'sawesome. It just doesn't give
you the results. And you know, Ifind it surprising sometimes
that that is is some things thatpeople feel overly emotional and
excited, you know, but you gotto temper it a little bit,
though, but anyway, so we have alot of events like you were
talking about. And that is agreat way to meet artists, we've
(32:52):
had a kit White has had twoworkshops, and those are mostly
been attended by artists. We didthem kind of small group, where
we did 10 people per session. Sowe did 20 in a day. And everyone
just loved it. I mean, theyreally fed off of each other's
creativity. And I know youposted some stuff about kids,
she she's just fantastic. Andshe's a great mix media artists.
(33:14):
There's a lot a lot of peoplelearned from her. And we've had
live painting events. Meganpiers out of Hattiesburg isn't
Wellington. This here frominflow wood. And Cliff speaks
who's from Pearl. I've all donesome live painting events, and
once again, attended by artistswho really wanted to see how
somebody else did, how do theydo their underpainting? How do
(33:36):
they, you know, what's theirperspective. And a cliff is
great, he will tell you like itis he will tell you what he's
grayed out what he knows he canwork on, you know, really
forthcoming about that type ofthing into the upcoming events,
the one that we have on Monday,I'm really excited about this
Valentine's night. So I create alot of these events because it's
(33:58):
what I want to go to. That'sreally what I think I'm like,
you know, I'm creative artists,we haven't had anything here in
Flowood that meets these, youknow, needs that I have. So
we're having a Valentine's eventwe have three different hours, a
five to six, six to seven and aseven to eight. And each hour,
we're going to have livepainting, we're going to have a
(34:20):
caterer who is making reallyartsy desserts like pastries,
shape like roses, you know, thethe chocolate covered
strawberries, she's going to gothrough with these different
desserts, glass of wine glass ofchampagne, and then we have
pianist Anna Samira. Thecaterers aim is to telecommute
with Gooch consulting events andconsulting
(34:44):
Anna Samira. She teaches pianolocally competitive, you know,
teaching for once people thatwant to, you know, be
competitive piano players. Shehas a master's in performance
piano, and Alyssa Yarrow, she isa Keller Williams agent. She has
This great background as avocalist, you know,
professionally trained vocalist.
So they're going to do someclassic love songs, we're going
(35:05):
to have the desserts, we'regoing to have the painting. It's
like the romantic hours that youwant, instead of sitting in line
at a restaurant with likewaitstaff who are exhausted, and
then you leave, and you're like,man, it was 100 bucks. And I
didn't quite get out of that,what I was hoping for, for My
Valentine's experience. Sothat's what we have going on.
(35:26):
And we still have some spaces.
So you know, but we've haddefinitely great response to it.
And that's, I'm setting these upso that they will become annual
events. So that each year peopleget in those habits of you know,
having those those optionsavailable. And then we've got
coming up. We do open mic night,the last Thursday's of the
(35:48):
month. So we have open mics onFebruary 24. My friend Marty
Smith, he's a guitar player.
He's like anything. Yeah, hecould play anything. He like
he's, you know, he's amazing.
I've known him for a long time.
I'm a musician myself. I've beenplaying open mics with him since
2013. So I knew that, you know,he could just lay it down
whatever it was. And we had wehad some people come out and
(36:11):
play the first one that we hadthis last month. That was really
fun. And then march 3, we haveour first poetry open mic, the
Mississippi Poetry Society, Igot in touch with Linda Owens.
And just you know, we're goingto have that and available
event. So that's something thatwe're going to build. We have
Lea Francis eyeglass artistscoming in March 26. She's gonna
(36:31):
have some examples of thefriends and all the things that
she uses and talk about herprocess. She's a Starkville
artist, march 31 and other lastThursday's. Then we're going to
have a mag there juried showtheir spring juried show, that's
April 21, the pastel societyMississippi is going to have a
(36:53):
juried show here August 13. Andright now I'm working on a plein
air event and Flowood but Idon't have the date yet, but
there should be a planer eventthat we host tied in with like
the fluid chamber has been verysupportive of having this type
of venue here. super supportive.
(37:15):
I mean, I can't say enough aboutthe fluid chamber. It's so so
when we tying some things inwith them and just you know,
we're trying to every month havehave things where people can get
tied in and for artists and forthe public. But it's all on our
website, we have all of ourevents listed. And then I do a
ton of Facebook and Instagram,you know talking about this
(37:37):
different events.
Derek Smith (37:38):
Now on Instagram you can find you can find Carrie
at pacesetter gallery, it's PAC, e s e t t e r Gallery, and
then you can find our websitepay set pacesetter gallery.com
Just one last question Iappreciate you giving all this
time to wrap up, what would besome advice for either yourself
(38:03):
as a younger artists galleristor anybody that's wanting to
come up behind you and follow inyour footsteps?
Keri Davis (38:10):
I think my advice is that when you're learning art,
in the beginning, you'reexposing yourself to art
history, the old masters, youknow, Chuck Close, you know, all
these different artists thathave made impacts, whether
you're in college for art, oryou're just you know,
experimenting and learning, butto take all that in, but realize
(38:34):
that you know, your art is yourown. It'll be influenced with
your upbringing, and you know,and all these experiences, and
other people are interested inyour art because you're a
different person than they are.
Because they want to know thedepths of other people and
connect. So don't have you haveconfidence. You're an
individual, you're unique, youbring something different than
(38:55):
somebody else does, I think thatconfidence have on me, and this
is what I'm bringing, noteverybody is going to connect to
it. It's just like dating, youknow, not everybody's meant to
match up. And it's the samething with other people in their
art and how they experience it.
But just have confidence thatthese old masters, you're you're
(39:17):
just a person just like they arewith your interest in your life.
So what you make is going toconnect to people. So don't
don't downplay it, you know,just look into yourself, find
your inspirations, start makingChuck Close, had a great quote,
which I cannot quote exactly.
But it said that you don't comeup with these amazing ideas
while you're sleeping or youcome up with them because you're
(39:41):
constantly making in the processof making is where you're going
to come up with that next greatidea. So put the work in and let
the ideas come and let theinspiration come as you're
making and be confident inyourself. I think that I would
tell myself that in my 20sbecause I was very insecure
about that. I felt like wow,like, you know, where's my
originality? You know, when am Igoing to have that real
(40:03):
noticeable mark that this is aCarrie Davis, you know piece.
And that's what I would tellmyself if I went back in time.
Derek Smith (40:13):
Well, Carrie, I want to thank you so much for
coming on and giving the timeand all the valuable like
valuable, valuable informationthat you just gave in this whole
thing. I really appreciate itand appreciate you being there
for Mississippi artist and isthere anything else that you
would like to share? Before wewrap up?
Keri Davis (40:32):
I would just say that, you know, because you and
I are very much kind ofspearheading what we can do. You
know, as individuals forMississippi artists, I think we
get a lot of that, you know,satisfaction from knowing that
we're helping helping someartists out there in some way.
And I just appreciate you andyou including me on this. It
(40:56):
means a lot to me to have thiscommunity of other leaders who
are trying to do everything theycan, you know, for other people
and, you know, for other artistsin whatever way they can find,
you know, to fit the bill forthat for that artist.
Derek Smith (41:15):
Carrie, thank you for being on everyone. Thank you
for listening. We will haveanother episode next week. So
tune back in until then. And aspecial thank you goes to our
members the Friends of thelittle yellow building. Beth
breelan, Mary Hardy, Gwen fury,Mary Adams, Jenny Howard, Jenny
(41:36):
Moke. Evelyn PV, the EvansFamily, Janet Smith, Buffy
Jordan, Jennifer drink water,the Smith family, bopper Zak and
Hannah Hester, thank you for allthe support
Hey everyone, this is Bob Brzuszek from starkel
saying thank you for thecontinued inspiration to all the
Mississippi artists
Derek Smith (00:20):
Hello and welcome or welcome back to the
Mississippi artists to artistsPodcast, the podcast where we
get to have genuineconversations with visual
artists living all across ourstate. You just heard a
recording from Bob Brzuszekcalled in to the Mississippi
artists to artists hotline and601-342-0881 Remember if you're
(00:41):
an artist and want to giveyourself a shout out, give
someone else a shout out talkabout a show coming up or any
events that you might have goingon. Go ahead and give us a call
in and leave a message and we'llplay it live on air. We have a
new art exhibition open at thelittle yellow building.com Its
body it's an exploration offigurative artwork by
Mississippi contemporary artistsso go check that out. And if you
(01:04):
haven't seen it yet the magazinehas launched so try be art
mag.com Has your free editionAre we still have a few copies
left of the limited editionprinting. So go to try B rt
mag.com. You can check outsouthern exposure you can check
out some of the other programsthat we have going but there's
lots of ways to get involved.
Our special guest today isCarrie Davis of Pace Setter
(01:25):
gallery. And they have a coupleof events coming up that they
wanted you to know about. April21 through May 3 the Pace Setter
gallery is hosting theMississippi artists guild the
opening reception is on the 21stfrom six to 8pm. The Home show
this year is going to be atClyde new center pay center will
have a pop up Gallery in thefoyer featuring four different
(01:48):
artists who made workspecifically for the show. Those
featured artists will also bedoing live painting demos
throughout the shows at thesetimes. Clif speaks on April 30,
from 10am to 130, Laura Mayofrom 130 to five. And on May 1,
you have Shawn Richards from10am, to 130, and Susan
(02:10):
Wellington from 130 to five. Somake sure you go by and visit
those and make sure to tell themhello from the little yellow
building. Well that about wrapsit up for now on to the
interview.
(02:31):
Everyone and welcome back toanother episode of the
Mississippi artists to artistspodcast. We have a special guest
with us this week, Carrie Davis,Carrie is not only an artist,
but she is a gallerist inFlowood, Mississippi with Pace
Setter gallery, She's the ownerand operator. And she's also
comes from a lineage ofgallerist and has it in her
blood. So I'm excited to haveher on to talk about not only
(02:54):
her art, but her point of viewand what she's doing here in
Mississippi. Carrie, thank youfor being on with us.
Keri Davis (03:00):
Absolutely. I'm excited to be here.
Derek Smith (03:02):
So to start out, why don't you give us a little
bit about your background, andthen your history in art.
Keri Davis (03:09):
All right. So my background, I grew up in an art
gallery, my grandmother had anart gallery in South Texas. So I
spent a lot of days there withher just being around art every
day and getting to spend timewith artists as they came
through and had discussions withher about their goals. And she
(03:29):
really did influence a lot ofartists that later on had
galleries of their own, and meta number of them at the
beginning of their careers. Sogetting to be a part of that.
And you know, my whole family,we have art that's been passed
down from my grandmother'sgallery. So art becomes like a
visual history for for myfamily. And I know for a lot of
(03:52):
artists, a lot of artists thatcome in have parents or
grandparents that were artists,and that kind of inspired them
as well. So I definitelyidentify with that. So I started
off being in that gallery, andmy grandmother gave me the
opportunity to take some lessonswith a local artist when I was
(04:13):
eight. And she was verytechnical started with teaching,
you know, basic drawing of conesand spheres and, you know, real
real shading of what you reallysee. And I think that really got
me started on understanding howimportant it is to to really see
(04:36):
what you're looking at and howthe artists can put that on the
paper. So that got me reallyexcited about art. At a very
young age. I knew that the moreI worked on it, the more I would
be able to develop those skills.
And you know, through juniorhigh in high school, I did
competitions and had some greatart teachers that really were
real positive and kept me movingforward. In, you know, in that
(04:59):
in that direction, and I went toUniversity of North Texas, which
has a really strong artdepartment there, people come
from all over the nation, it'spretty competitive, it's a big
school. So you really do haveto, to jump in and kind of bring
your A game. So that reallypushed me to learn a lot of
(05:21):
different methods and take a lotof classes and different
materials. And I graduated withan art education degree, but
really heavy on studio, theyhave a Getty program there.
multiple schools got grants forthis Getty program called
(05:43):
discipline based art education,DBE. And it really focuses on
not just providing art educationfor people that are good at art.
It focuses on art criticism, andaesthetics. And someone that's
not necessarily gifted instudio, are going to get that
(06:06):
education and art and, and loveart because they are kind of
embedded in the history of it.
It's tied to math and English,and all the kind of cultural
things that art was inspired by.
And I think that that makes abig difference when you see art
from that lens, that theeducation of art isn't just
(06:30):
about art, it's about what washappening at the time, and what
were those people inspired by,and you tend to get a lot more
excited about it, when you lookat it that way. So I taught that
DBE method. And I taught in theTexas schools for six years. And
then I was able to stay homewith my three sons for a number
(06:53):
of number of years, and Ipainted murals on the side
and took my kids to a lot ofgalleries, you know, there's
great galleries, all over thecountry. And that was kind of
one of my focuses is to exposethem to, you know, science
galleries and art galleries andall of that. I think that that
(07:14):
that training really affectedhow I look at art in general.
Because I do tie in music andpoetry and, and all those things
within the gallery. So that'skind of where I am. Today, I
changed my career when I wentback to work after raising kids
and I ran a big buildingproducts company in Perl called
(07:37):
Lansing building products. Andthey pretty much hand handed the
reins over to me for the stateof Mississippi. And I learned
about how to run a big business,you know, and how to manage
people. And that that was kindof like the business bootcamp I
needed. As an artist only Idon't, I really needed the
business and art together to beable to have this gallery. And
(08:01):
we opened in July of 2021. And alot of what got me to pull the
trigger on that was a little bitof COVID. And a little bit of my
grandmother passing, she dideverything she wanted to do in
her life she traveled, she hadthe gallery, she she chose the
(08:21):
direction of her life and feltlike I was kind of not in the
right place. So that really youknow, there's always those
things that kind of push you tostep out. So we opened in July
with 45 artists, and now we have61. And we have a lot of events
and things that go on at thegallery. And it really doesn't
feel like work, you know, reallyjust, it's wonderful.
Derek Smith (08:44):
It's to build the community and to be surrounded
by creatives after so long, Imean, it's just a part of your
life, it's a part of your fromfrom start to now, it's been a
constant, to have that creativeinfluence in your life. I can
see why it would be such a joynow to be re surrounded by it
all. Yeah, absolutely. And whata great opportunity, because
(09:08):
that's something that they don'treally focus on nobody. I mean,
artists talk about it amongstthemselves, but I don't feel
like there's any true educationon the business side of art.
Because it's so random. It alldepends on which way the wind
blows in which way you want togo as to how you're going to
have to develop your business.
And it's it's findinginspiration from different
(09:29):
places like, you know, differentgalleries and other artists that
are around and seeing what theydo and adjusting it. So kudos to
you for having that businessexperience of large business
because that's crazy, largebusinesses inside.
Keri Davis (09:47):
Yeah, it was it was a great job. It was very
consuming as far as time and Ifelt like I really just got to
grab very small moments inbetween being really tired to do
my own art. And it became veryinsular, where I did not share
it with anyone, I did not havethe time to reach out to
anybody, I just had that littletiny moment. So now I'm very
(10:09):
much focused on the gallery. ButI can grab a few minutes here
and there to do my own art. Andit's like, for the first time I
have a job where I can actually,you know, include my own art,
and then also just theconversations that I have with
these other artists. And the andthe, you know, it's just so
different from being so insularis that constant community and,
(10:31):
and just talking about art withamazing artists, you know, and
doing things like this with you.
I feel like that community, allartists need it, it definitely
helps us get inspired and notfeel like you know, we're so by
ourselves, because we do createa lot by when we're alone, you
know, to kind of get in thatthat focus zone. But we do we
need that community.
Derek Smith (10:54):
So before we go on and talk about pacesetters
itself, why don't we talk alittle bit about your art, now
you create these abstract inpieces, and tell us what really
inspires you or what you've kindof played around with to develop
for yourself?
Keri Davis (11:11):
Yeah, right now, um, I mean, I feel like artists kind
of go through different phases,or now I'm painting a lot more
abstract, it always stillusually ties in to water and
movement. And, you know, birdsthat are kind of alone, you
know, a Karen's, like, there'sstrength there, and beauty, and
(11:33):
the wind and the movement ofbirds on the water, that all I
still ties in. So even myabstracts you kind of get that
feeling of the water, a stormblowing in, you know, the
feeling of wind. And I have afew pieces I just finished that
are a little bit more realistic,but they still have, you know, a
(11:56):
lot of that, that, that feelingthat that little abstracted, you
know, to try to pull in thatthat water feeling. I've always
been, I mean, I grew up swimmingalmost every day. And I love to
fish and I when I moved here,the first place I moved was
right off the Ross Barnettreservoir over a pelahatchie
(12:20):
Bay. And I had a house that wason the water in there were
beautiful willow trees in thebackyard, and I got a little
John boat. And my kids werepretty young at the time, I
think they were I think I had afour and eight and a 12 year
old. So we would jump in thatJohn boat, we would go down to
pelahatchie Bay trading post,and buy some crickets and get an
(12:40):
ice cream and just roam aroundthose little islands. And it
just, I mean, I just fell inlove with Mississippi and the
beauty of Mississippi and thatthat really really inspired a
maybe a little bit morerealistic feel to my work for a
little while, but you know, youcould just really see it and
that's kind of where that beganfor me. And I think that'll
(13:04):
always be a strong, strong thingfor me is just that tide of
water. And you work with
Derek Smith (13:12):
acrylics and inks and do you normally work on
paper or how do you pull thattogether
Keri Davis (13:18):
it's kind of both if I'm working you know with inks
and washes, I'm working onpaper, like I'm really crazy
about not having wrinkles on mypaper. So I work on like 300
pound Aqua cold press fromStonehenge a giant block you
know that seal down so like I'mreally kind of picky about the
paper I use, I just can't standit I just can't stand the
(13:40):
wrinkles and then then I work oncanvas a lot as well and do a
lot of acrylic painting withlayers and textures as well. So
I kind of bounced back and forthbut the the the point of view I
guess you know still coming fromme It's so on. And I really I
used to work in a lot moredetailed watercolor but it's
really hard when you're in thegallery and somebody walks in
(14:01):
the door the concentration levelyou have to have when you're
working on that is different soI've kind of put that aside for
right now just because it'sharder to break that
concentration and and get backto it to do a little bit more
you know abstract workespecially you know acrylic on
canvas I can step away fromit'll easier mentally sound
Derek Smith (14:23):
I'll give you breaks too. And that's that's
what about watercolors if you'rein the middle of the color swish
or if your paper is a certaindampness like you need to work
there now in blockout everythingso I can imagine that would be a
huge, like huge hurdle to beable to find time for that right
now. So going into the gallery,you opened it in in 2021. What
(14:50):
is I guess your point of view asa gallerist are your your
overall mission and As PaceSetter gallery,
Keri Davis (15:02):
so my mission is to be the connector between
Mississippi artists and thepublic. And I want to grow
cultural arts in the community,you know, for the public. And
then also for artists. I want tofurther art education, we work a
lot with some colleges and somehigh schools, allowing them to
use the space and you know, justkind of collaborating with them
(15:24):
on what we can come up with asideas. Whether they're coming
in, you know, as a, an arts, youknow, like a National Art
Society honors Art Society forjust a trip to the gallery. And
then we've had shows for likethe Millsap Jr show, and I've
hired some people to do somepart time work for me, like
Laney Hill, right now, she is aMississippi College art student,
(15:48):
and she's planning on becomingan art therapist. So that is a
great, you know, opportunity forher to kind of just be engrossed
in what's going on in thegallery. So that artistic
education, you know, that comesfrom my background. But I get to
get a lot out of thatperspective, you know, the
events we have, and things likethat kind of tie in. And then
(16:08):
just helping these artists whosome of them don't understand
the business side. We had aMississippi artists guild
meeting in January, here, I'm inthe midst of the artists guild.
And we talked a lot about how toprice your work, what a gallery
is looking for, you know, how tomake sure you step off on the
right foot when you contact agallery, and some of those
(16:29):
things that, you know, I thinkthat artists don't think about
their pricing enough. Becausewhen you have a collector coming
to you, and they're investing inyou, in your work, they want to
know if that dollar amount issomething that's repeatable,
where's that number come from.
And really, you should to beable to show either through
(16:51):
gallery records, or your ownpersonal records that there is a
tie in to you getting thatamount of money for for your
pieces in that size, and be ableto prove that you've been doing
that for a number of years. AndI think if you don't set a
price, either by this squareinch or whatever, you know, you
(17:11):
decided stick with that, youwon't have those records to show
somebody. So and that's what Ithat's what I really advise is
figure out your pricingstructure. And don't veer from
it because you're creating, youknow, your value in the market.
And you're gonna have and youshould be able to, you know,
explain that to somebody andfeel confident about it. Because
(17:35):
the confidence you have as anartist, when you're selling
something, people can feel it,people can feel if you feel
confident about what you'repricing things at. And it all
comes from a history of ofsales. So that that is something
that we discussed, you knowabout what your retail price is,
whether you're in a gallery, andyou know, and selling some stuff
separately from the gallery,figuring that out, you know,
(17:57):
figuring out that price point.
So that's the kind of stuff Ilike to do, as well as for
artists is be able to give themyou know, some guidance in those
areas as well.
Derek Smith (18:08):
That's a extremely valuable service to have
somebody who you trust,especially as an artist to come
through and non emotionally, gothrough your art and say, Okay,
this, this, these things arewhat needs to adjust, because we
get so tied into the emotionalvalue that we have on our art,
that it's that it's hard toprice it as that are you degrade
(18:31):
yourself to a level where you'relike, Here, I'll give you 50
cents to take it. You know, and
Keri Davis (18:38):
I say that more than anything. Yeah. I see people go,
Oh, I just Well, what it is, isthere is a huge divide between
why we make art, which is forourselves. And it is an
emotional tie in and we have tomake it where makers and is a
part of who we are. If we don'tmake art, we're going to be
(18:58):
decorating cupcakes, or we'regoing to be doing it comes out,
you know, you have to be makingsomething if you're a maker, but
you do make it for yourself. Andso then all of a sudden, you
crossover to this, okay, now Igotta sell it, what's the value
or the value to me, is totallydifferent than the value to the
outside world. And there's asense of rejection as well. If
(19:19):
someone if someone doesn'tconnect to your work, you know,
you do feel like are theyrejecting me because it is me,
you know. And so all of a suddenyou have this this emotional
connection to something that itreally becomes a retail sale
that you're trying to make. Sothat is a difficult thing to go
back and forth between I thinkevery artist struggles with it.
(19:39):
And I was surprised as asartists came in to the gallery
and we started strategizing atthe very beginning before we
even opened even the reallyexperienced artists were still
saying what do you think Ishould price this at? You know,
where do you think the marketwould be on this piece? And so I
was surprised about that becauseit all you know, as an art
(19:59):
artist myself, I think I have adifferent perspective than just
someone that has a gallery andisn't an artist, because I want
to provide people the servicesthat I myself as an artist need
for me, you know, so I do try tolook at it. What can the gallery
do for me, let me do that forthe other artists as well, you
know, I don't know that that'llever go away that struggle
(20:21):
between my value and the valueoutside of me, you know, I think
that will always be somethingpeople war with. And I think
that is why pricing things bythe square inch. And then don't
sell the things that have such astrong emotional connection, you
just need to keep those items,if you can't let it go at that
square inch price, then you'renot ready to let go of it yet.
(20:43):
And I think it's okay to dothat.
Derek Smith (20:46):
I, I left Mississippi and came back and in
the time that I was gone, itseems to be that there is this
middle ground that's developingwhere Mississippi, our artists
are able to test more of theirvalue. On a day to day basis.
We're not We're not an abundantstate, we have abundance and
(21:07):
talent and music and art and,and all of those things, but
we're not extremely wealthy. Andso it seems that there has been
this middle ground of galleriesthat service, the artist and the
masses are not necessarily themasses, but a greater audience
in Mississippi. So have Have youfound that testing the waters of
(21:28):
of price points and to find agreater understanding of what
Mississippi can afford, or haveyou found audience outside of
Mississippi and you ship I mean,it's it's all a big toss up.
Keri Davis (21:41):
Yeah, it's a it's a little bit of both. And you
know, being a newer gallery. Andhaving this business background,
I was able to spend time beforeI opened building out my space,
but really finding the bestsoftware and programs and
strategies for growing thebusiness outside of Mississippi.
(22:04):
And also growing it across thestate instead of just right here
in Flowood. A lot of theresearch that I did, before I
opened the gallery was about howCOVID and just you know, having
the internet available, hascreated a larger audience for
art across the world. Thebiggest thing is though, there's
(22:24):
an experience you have when youcan be close to a piece of work,
you can meet when you can meetthe artist, when you can have an
experience in the gallery thatyou lose when all of a sudden
you're buying online. But thecollectors still want some of
that experience. So having awell developed site where you
have biographies, and you have,you know, a little bit of
(22:48):
information about each piecewhere if it's purchased, you've
got somebody who has it on thewall, but can speak to what the
artist was thinking somethingabout the material, so that it
makes them an expert in some wayabout this piece that they've
purchased. So if you can givethem that experience, virtually,
(23:09):
you're gonna go a lot fartherthan you know someone that
doesn't have good pictures andand all those things. So that
was something that I reallyresearched a lot about those
online sales, where the wherethey kind of funneled to, and
where you're going to really getsome momentum if you can become
a someone that a collectorreally loves to go back and look
(23:30):
at that over and over andcontinue to use that gallery
because of those reasons. Sothat I would say, haven't that
nine months to really kind ofdevelop things before I opened
that gave me a lot of time tocome up with those strategies.
And we've shipped a number ofthings to do California and
other states. You know, as westart to get more of that
(23:52):
national footprint. I think it'svery important though because it
because it is it's just part ofour culture now that you can
find what you want, by just acouple clicks.
Derek Smith (24:03):
So tell us about how you go about finding your
artists do you are thesepersonal connections and
invitations? Do you do calls forart? Or do you have a show and
maybe collect an artist out ofthat? Like what would be the
process for an artist that wouldwant to get in contact with you?
Keri Davis (24:20):
I do think that there is a developing method for
me being a new gallery. Before Iopened I had plenty of time to
do research and then even golike on a big road trip and
legata people's, you know,studios and like that was the
greatest thing ever. I felt likeI just you know I hit the
(24:41):
jackpot. Like I'm just on thisroad trip. I'm just going to
people's studios and getting totheir houses, people that have
been in art for 30 years andhave traded art with a bunch of
other artists and their house islike a gallery you know, of all
the art that they love and getto see that and really getting
to know them on a personalbasis, and I think that is my
(25:02):
number one goal is to reallyknow the person I'm working
with, because it's a businessrelationship, and you want to
develop that long term. So youhave to feel like it's a good
fit. So I do I do a lot of that,a lot of research into their
style into their longevity intotheir viewpoint, that there is
(25:23):
some consistency in their work.
You know, there's some somepeople that have their own
website, so it's easy to seewhat they're up, you know what
they're doing. So I had a lot oftime to really investigate and
research and I had a balance inmind, of what type of type of
mediums what type ofperspectives, what sizes people
(25:44):
work in, to try to get a goodbalance for, when people walked
in the door, they would have avariety, but it would hit some
points commercially andresidentially I needed to hit.
So all of that was is, you know,kind of laid out in my mind as I
began to investigate theartists, so that was a little
easier than that part of it.
(26:06):
Now, they're all coming to me.
So I probably have one or twoartists every day walk in the
door, who are looking to get inthe gallery. I mean, it's, you
know, it's pretty frequent.
Which, you know, I mean, it'sjust, there's not a lot of
places like this. There's not noother places in Rankin County.
You know, there's othergalleries and Rankin County,
(26:28):
which is definitely developingand getting larger and larger.
Especially commercially, youknow, there's a lot of
businesses in this area. So nowI'm finding artists, one place I
did find a couple artists wasthe, the Mississippi Arts
Commission, they have a artistsdirectory on there. And I would
(26:52):
say, that's a great place forartists, it's free, you go in,
you create your artists page,and download some photos. And
that, you know, obviously, likethat is what Mac is for. And so
if you're not taking advantageof that, I would say, get your
page on there, because peoplelike me are going to be looking
at those larger, you know, kindof repositories for art. And
(27:15):
it's very, you know, said, sothat's something I recommend
everybody do, I do that for thegallery. And for myself, you
know, I added that on there. Somy informations on that. So
because I found some peoplethere, so I'm like, fine, fine.
And if somebody else is finding,I'm using the same tool, right.
And then, when I was gettingopened up, I had a couple
(27:35):
artists already in mind thatI've been following. And some of
the artists that I chose, theysaid, Hey, I have this friend,
you know, you might want tocheck out their work. So I think
it's always great. Anytimeyou're, you know, hiring
somebody, when you havereferrals, like you always know
that the person knows what youdo, and what you're looking for.
And they're only going to referpeople to you that they feel
like meet those requirements,and they feel, you know, like,
(27:58):
it's a good person to reallyrecommend. So that's where that
community of artists comes in.
The more people you know, whenthey have a good situation come
up, and they refer you isbecause you have visibility to
them. And you have some, youknow, personal relationship with
them, or they think of youwhenever they get that
opportunity as well.
Derek Smith (28:19):
And on the other end of that, if you're an artist
that gets recommended somebodyjust put their name out on the
line for you. So follow throughand do a good job and be the,
the artists companion thateverybody needs you to be. But
yeah, that's so you know, theand it's been a long, long
standing thing that or at leastit used to be that don't just
(28:43):
cold walk into a gallery, youknow that you don't know what's
going on in anybody's day. Andit can end up being a bad
impression. If you just walk inand say, Hey, I'm an artist, you
should look at my stuff. Andother than that, and like it
can, it can be charming,endearing at a point, but you
never know, if the gallerist isbusy, you never know if the
(29:05):
thing so finding those easyways, making those personal
connections are a lot easier togo in. One of the tips that we
used to be told is just startvisiting the gallery and say
hello and get to know the peoplethat work there and they're
going to get to know you. Andthen they're going to find out
you're an artist and then youknow you'll eventually have that
opportunity or just keep an eyeout for what everybody's doing.
(29:28):
But I love to hear the personalconnections that you're making
with artists, especially whenyou go in and help guide them
into the business aspect of allof it. Because it's just it's
extremely important and it's nota well known side of all of
this. So I appreciate yousharing all of that. What are
some events and things thatyou've got coming up and this
(29:52):
for your this will go up in midMarch or less?
Keri Davis (29:59):
Well I've got some stuff going on right now. But I
do want to speak to what youjust said about people getting
into galleries. There isdefinitely if you walk into a
gallery, the first thing, thegallery owner, if you think from
their perspective, that theirthinking is, this is somebody I
want to sell some art to, youknow, this is a opportunity for
(30:21):
the gallery to, you know,further one of the artists in
the gallery by being able todiscuss it with this person that
came in. So if you are anartist, the best thing to do is
identify yourself with thatperson as an artist, but tell
them that you're here, you heardabout the gallery, and you're
here to research and and do alittle research on the gallery
and learn a little bit aboutwhat the collection is about.
(30:44):
And that you know, but that isthe number one best way to do
it. Because if you spend 15minutes with that gallerist and
they're thinking that you are asales opportunity, and you act
like you're a sales opportunity,and then you leave without
purchasing and all of a law allalong, you were kind of not
being, you know, forthcoming. Ithink that's the number one
mistake that people make.
Because they want to be taken asimportant. But The Gallerist is
(31:06):
already thinking that they'refor a purchase. And then the
other thing that happens a lotis people want to pull out their
phones and show me a little, youknow, one inch by one inch
picture. At first, I was realpolite about it, and I would
look at it. But now I tell them,go ahead and go to the website,
we have artists guideline pagefor submissions, I don't want to
(31:27):
see your work on your phone, Idon't think it does justice to
your work. And it doesn't. And Idon't really have the time to
sit down and look at it the wayI like to. So I just don't look
at their work on their phones.
Because because I feel like I'mdoing them a disservice by
saying yes. So that's what Irecommend is go to the website,
(31:48):
see if that gallery hassomething already in place,
which then I'm sure they do,because they want to streamline
that process so that it'sefficient for them, see what
they need from you, if youfollow that, they're going to be
a lot more responsive, you know,to you in a positive way,
because you're following alreadytheir guidelines, which is what
they need from their artists,they need that good
(32:08):
communication, and thatunderstanding of what the
gallery needs. So you'realready, you know, you're
already ahead of the game if youdo it that way. But that's kind
of, you know, kind of, like notnot sending, you know, you know,
Facebook messengers at midnight,that's not a good idea. Or just,
you know, sending 20 differentpictures, and I have to be in
(32:30):
your gallery, like, that'sawesome. It just doesn't give
you the results. And you know, Ifind it surprising sometimes
that that is is some things thatpeople feel overly emotional and
excited, you know, but you gotto temper it a little bit,
though, but anyway, so we have alot of events like you were
talking about. And that is agreat way to meet artists, we've
(32:52):
had a kit White has had twoworkshops, and those are mostly
been attended by artists. We didthem kind of small group, where
we did 10 people per session. Sowe did 20 in a day. And everyone
just loved it. I mean, theyreally fed off of each other's
creativity. And I know youposted some stuff about kids,
she she's just fantastic. Andshe's a great mix media artists.
(33:14):
There's a lot a lot of peoplelearned from her. And we've had
live painting events. Meganpiers out of Hattiesburg isn't
Wellington. This here frominflow wood. And Cliff speaks
who's from Pearl. I've all donesome live painting events, and
once again, attended by artistswho really wanted to see how
somebody else did, how do theydo their underpainting? How do
(33:36):
they, you know, what's theirperspective. And a cliff is
great, he will tell you like itis he will tell you what he's
grayed out what he knows he canwork on, you know, really
forthcoming about that type ofthing into the upcoming events,
the one that we have on Monday,I'm really excited about this
Valentine's night. So I create alot of these events because it's
(33:58):
what I want to go to. That'sreally what I think I'm like,
you know, I'm creative artists,we haven't had anything here in
Flowood that meets these, youknow, needs that I have. So
we're having a Valentine's eventwe have three different hours, a
five to six, six to seven and aseven to eight. And each hour,
we're going to have livepainting, we're going to have a
(34:20):
caterer who is making reallyartsy desserts like pastries,
shape like roses, you know, thethe chocolate covered
strawberries, she's going to gothrough with these different
desserts, glass of wine glass ofchampagne, and then we have
pianist Anna Samira. Thecaterers aim is to telecommute
with Gooch consulting events andconsulting
(34:44):
Anna Samira. She teaches pianolocally competitive, you know,
teaching for once people thatwant to, you know, be
competitive piano players. Shehas a master's in performance
piano, and Alyssa Yarrow, she isa Keller Williams agent. She has
This great background as avocalist, you know,
professionally trained vocalist.
So they're going to do someclassic love songs, we're going
(35:05):
to have the desserts, we'regoing to have the painting. It's
like the romantic hours that youwant, instead of sitting in line
at a restaurant with likewaitstaff who are exhausted, and
then you leave, and you're like,man, it was 100 bucks. And I
didn't quite get out of that,what I was hoping for, for My
Valentine's experience. Sothat's what we have going on.
(35:26):
And we still have some spaces.
So you know, but we've haddefinitely great response to it.
And that's, I'm setting these upso that they will become annual
events. So that each year peopleget in those habits of you know,
having those those optionsavailable. And then we've got
coming up. We do open mic night,the last Thursday's of the
(35:48):
month. So we have open mics onFebruary 24. My friend Marty
Smith, he's a guitar player.
He's like anything. Yeah, hecould play anything. He like
he's, you know, he's amazing.
I've known him for a long time.
I'm a musician myself. I've beenplaying open mics with him since
2013. So I knew that, you know,he could just lay it down
whatever it was. And we had wehad some people come out and
(36:11):
play the first one that we hadthis last month. That was really
fun. And then march 3, we haveour first poetry open mic, the
Mississippi Poetry Society, Igot in touch with Linda Owens.
And just you know, we're goingto have that and available
event. So that's something thatwe're going to build. We have
Lea Francis eyeglass artistscoming in March 26. She's gonna
(36:31):
have some examples of thefriends and all the things that
she uses and talk about herprocess. She's a Starkville
artist, march 31 and other lastThursday's. Then we're going to
have a mag there juried showtheir spring juried show, that's
April 21, the pastel societyMississippi is going to have a
(36:53):
juried show here August 13. Andright now I'm working on a plein
air event and Flowood but Idon't have the date yet, but
there should be a planer eventthat we host tied in with like
the fluid chamber has been verysupportive of having this type
of venue here. super supportive.
(37:15):
I mean, I can't say enough aboutthe fluid chamber. It's so so
when we tying some things inwith them and just you know,
we're trying to every month havehave things where people can get
tied in and for artists and forthe public. But it's all on our
website, we have all of ourevents listed. And then I do a
ton of Facebook and Instagram,you know talking about this
(37:37):
different events.
Derek Smith (37:38):
Now on Instagram you can find you can find Carrie
at pacesetter gallery, it's PAC, e s e t t e r Gallery, and
then you can find our websitepay set pacesetter gallery.com
Just one last question Iappreciate you giving all this
time to wrap up, what would besome advice for either yourself
(38:03):
as a younger artists galleristor anybody that's wanting to
come up behind you and follow inyour footsteps?
Keri Davis (38:10):
I think my advice is that when you're learning art,
in the beginning, you'reexposing yourself to art
history, the old masters, youknow, Chuck Close, you know, all
these different artists thathave made impacts, whether
you're in college for art, oryou're just you know,
experimenting and learning, butto take all that in, but realize
(38:34):
that you know, your art is yourown. It'll be influenced with
your upbringing, and you know,and all these experiences, and
other people are interested inyour art because you're a
different person than they are.
Because they want to know thedepths of other people and
connect. So don't have you haveconfidence. You're an
individual, you're unique, youbring something different than
(38:55):
somebody else does, I think thatconfidence have on me, and this
is what I'm bringing, noteverybody is going to connect to
it. It's just like dating, youknow, not everybody's meant to
match up. And it's the samething with other people in their
art and how they experience it.
But just have confidence thatthese old masters, you're you're
(39:17):
just a person just like they arewith your interest in your life.
So what you make is going toconnect to people. So don't
don't downplay it, you know,just look into yourself, find
your inspirations, start makingChuck Close, had a great quote,
which I cannot quote exactly.
But it said that you don't comeup with these amazing ideas
while you're sleeping or youcome up with them because you're
(39:41):
constantly making in the processof making is where you're going
to come up with that next greatidea. So put the work in and let
the ideas come and let theinspiration come as you're
making and be confident inyourself. I think that I would
tell myself that in my 20sbecause I was very insecure
about that. I felt like wow,like, you know, where's my
originality? You know, when am Igoing to have that real
(40:03):
noticeable mark that this is aCarrie Davis, you know piece.
And that's what I would tellmyself if I went back in time.
Derek Smith (40:13):
Well, Carrie, I want to thank you so much for
coming on and giving the timeand all the valuable like
valuable, valuable informationthat you just gave in this whole
thing. I really appreciate itand appreciate you being there
for Mississippi artist and isthere anything else that you
would like to share? Before wewrap up?
Keri Davis (40:32):
I would just say that, you know, because you and
I are very much kind ofspearheading what we can do. You
know, as individuals forMississippi artists, I think we
get a lot of that, you know,satisfaction from knowing that
we're helping helping someartists out there in some way.
And I just appreciate you andyou including me on this. It
(40:56):
means a lot to me to have thiscommunity of other leaders who
are trying to do everything theycan, you know, for other people
and, you know, for other artistsin whatever way they can find,
you know, to fit the bill forthat for that artist.
Derek Smith (41:15):
Carrie, thank you for being on everyone. Thank you
for listening. We will haveanother episode next week. So
tune back in until then. And aspecial thank you goes to our
members the Friends of thelittle yellow building. Beth
breelan, Mary Hardy, Gwen fury,Mary Adams, Jenny Howard, Jenny
(41:36):
Moke. Evelyn PV, the EvansFamily, Janet Smith, Buffy
Jordan, Jennifer drink water,the Smith family, bopper Zak and
Hannah Hester, thank you for allthe support
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