Submitted by Melissa Howsam — Correspondent
Almost two decades on the scene, this hip local art haven has its finger on the pulse of the local art community. With a rotating stable of 35 artists, Lee Hansley Gallery, founded and managed by Lee Hansley, specializes in American contemporary art and ceramics — with a heavy nod to the development of Modernism and a demonstrated interest in North Carolina’s art history — as well as collections management, art consultation and secondary market art for resale.
From modest beginnings on a Capital Club building second floor to a swank hot spot on Glenwood South, Hansley’s rise isn’t limited to the local—this gallery’s reach is global, even selling pieces from Seattle to Amsterdam to Yemen. Yes, Yemen.
A former curator at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, Hansley brings a unique perspective and expertise to the Raleigh — and the North Carolina — artscape, sitting as one of only two galleries in the state run by a museum-trained professional (the other is Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte).
So, with the gallery’s 18th anniversary now fast approaching, Hansley dishes deets on his gallery’s vision, from its humble beginnings to its flourishing future, revealing the indelible impression it’s made, and will continue to make, on the local art scene.
Q: You opened Lee Hansley Gallery in 1993. How did the gallery begin?
I scouted out the vacant buildings in Raleigh and settled on a second floor suite of offices in the 12-story Capital Club building in the heart of downtown. The gallery was small and consisted of four exhibition spaces and a separate office. I had no sign on the street. The gallery was designed as a destination, and that worked for me and what I wanted to do. The only drop-in traffic was from the building itself. The gallery became the social hub of a building full of attorneys and the Raleigh studio of WTVD-TV. I loved that space; it reminded me of a Chicago or New York 57th Street gallery. It had its limitations, however, since I had no sign on the street and parking was a constant complaint. But, all things totaled, I did exactly what I wanted to do with that gallery. At the end of seven years there, however, I got the itch for change. That’s when I moved to what is now called Glenwood South.
Q: How would you define your approach?
My goal is to deliver to Raleigh a first-rate gallery run by a museum-trained professional with vast experience in the art world. It is not something that I could say; it is something that I had to do to earn the trust of collectors in the Triangle. I want to expose the Triangle audience to artists who weren’t represented here or who were under-represented here.
Q: What do you hope your gallery brings to the Raleigh artscape?
I want to be highly selective and exclusive, and limit myself to about 35 artists in my stable. I have, on occasion, ventured from my stable to organize thematic shows or shows confined to a single medium, or our annual holiday show, “One Hundred Under 1000.” My purpose has always been to serve the art collector first — the private individual who may or may not need direction in their collecting. I have years of experience working with large companies like the Hanes Corporation, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, Hanes Dye & Finishing and The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, where I placed artwork in six regional service centers around the country and at the headquarters buildings in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago.
Q: How did you go about choosing the artists you represent?
Having worked in a major art center (the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem) for eight years, I opened knowing literally thousands of artists in the 13 states we defined as the southeast. Additionally, I had been the exhibition coordinator for a national awards program at SECCA for five years and had met 100 national artists through that program. People ask me all the time, “Where do you get your artists.” It is a bigger problem for me turning artists away that I know personally.
Q: You later opened a second gallery named Lee Hansley, Too! for a short time. What differentiated Too?
After being on Glenwood Avenue for a decade I opened Lee Hansley Gallery, Too! It was a trial that I only planned initially to have for three months, but that got stretched into 10 months. I learned a lot from that experience. Mainly, that my clientele expected me to be present, and I simply couldn’t be in two places at once. So I closed it. I am very glad that I had it at the time, however, since the Paul Hartley legacy show took up all of both spaces. I’m content that it was the largest exhibition ever mounted by a commercial gallery in this state. There were 100 artists from 17 states and India with over 250 works of art shown. The Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro mounted a Bert Carpenter show over 10 years ago that had about the same number of works in it. But we mounted our show in a record 30 days. I am very proud of that exhibition. Every artist in it had studied with Paul Hartley at East Carolina University School of Art.
Q: Your gallery is distinct because:
I want it to stand apart from the run-of-the-mill gallery that panders to popular taste. I have very strict standards and try not to deviate from them. I don’t sell paintings to match carpeting, sofas and drapes. I never tell an artist what to paint, and I never sell out to common-denominator taste. I truly believe in the art that I sell, as well as in the artists who make the work. I hope that in people’s minds it is the art shown here that distinguishes my gallery from others. Perhaps my background in the museum world contributes to that. Only one other gallery in North Carolina is run by a museum-trained professional (Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charlotte). I also want people to think of this gallery as a serious endeavor. It is not the backdrop for social gatherings; though, I have had many of those. But the art is always first and foremost. I want people to respect what I do as a gallerist, and I mainly want them to respect the work and the artists who create it.
Q: You also specialize in secondary market art for resale. How significant is that aspect of your business?
A large part of what we do is offer work on the secondary market — that is reselling paintings from estates or private individuals or companies wanting to divest of works. We host a show every other year entitled “Art I Have Loved” for that very purpose; however, we deal in secondary market art on a daily basis. Many pieces we sell are never even shown in the gallery. The gallery also offers an appraisal service and advice on collections management, the proper care and lighting of artwork, as well as installations services and art consultation.
Q: How do you envision a patron's experience in your gallery?
When someone walks in my front or back door, I want them to immediately realize that they are in a special place. We attempt to be serious, but not stuffy. We try to have a sense of humor and do not belittle people who visit us because they don’t know a certain artist or a certain art term or medium. We try to provide information to the viewer that will make the art more accessible to them. Nothing is gained by putting someone down.
Q: What can we expect from Lee Hansley in the future?
In the future there will be some minor changes. We are going to have exhibitions that run longer in 2011, and we are going to focus more on narrowly targeting our market. We have had a website longer than any gallery to my knowledge — over 16 years — and we will be expanding our web presence in the future. We do not plan for the web experience to replace visiting the gallery, but we wish to make it an easier tool for gleaning information about what we do and what we offer, and we hope it will lure more people to the gallery.
The gallery will mark the start of its 18th year in February, and I am very proud of what we have accomplished. I plan never to retire because I truly love my job. There are many times that my patience have been tried, but nothing will discourage me from doing exactly what I believe I was meant to do. The art world is a very comfortable place for me and I have spent the majority of my life submerged in it. And, after all, art is just like a small town. What’s not to like about it?
