La Vie has closed it's location at 3609 Butler Street.
Lawrenceville galleries: A revolving door
By Kurt Shaw
TRIBUNE-REVIEW ART CRITIC
Sunday, September 7, 2008
After a two-year run, last weekend saw the last of LaVie gallery in Lawrenceville. With an impromptu closing party scheduled for the Friday evening before Labor Day, gallery co-owner Bronwyn Loughren says, "We closed quickly, so there wasn't the usual crowd."
Loughren and business partner Thommy Conroy found out a week earlier that they could close the space because Equita, a store currently selling earth friendly "green" products out of a Lawrenceville location known as the Ice House lofts, took over the lease with plans of relocating to LaVie's location on Butler Street and opening to the public after Sept. 15.
"We're closing because we have other things that we'd like to do," says LaVie gallery co-owner Bronwyn Loughren. "I've learned that I don't want to be a businesswoman for the rest of my life. In the end, the idealism gives way to reality, and it doesn't matter if I'm selling artwork or widgets, it's still a business, and that's dry and a bit too linear for my taste."
Known among local artists as a unique venue that focused on the selling of their works as opposed to mere display, LaVie was heralded as the hippest gallery to hit Lawrenceville in years when it opened.
"Somehow they have been able to corral some of the best young artists in town, and show their best work consistently, month-after-month," wrote art blogger Merge Divide last week on the blog "Serendipity" (dgrim.blogspot.com/). "The receptions have been well attended and elegantly provisioned, and the prices have always been affordable. Often the best art venues come and go quickly in this town, and leave folks reminiscing about them for a long time afterwards."
Catering to the younger set, the goal says Loughren, was to cultivate interest in collecting art on the most basic level.
"At La Vie we wanted to cultivate a new collector -- give someone who had never thought to invest in artwork a starting point," she says. "To present artwork with thoughtful curation and careful discretion is a lot of work; being able to say no to artists even if you like them because you don't just take anyone -- this has strengthened our reputation and we've had some stellar shows at La Vie."
True enough. Over the past two years, Loughren and Conroy managed to produce an event monthly, drawing in a large crowd with each new show. As for the closing party, Loughren says, "Probably 100 people came to the closing, sales were good and a diverse crowd, as usual."
Loughren says that even though the closing did "feel like a funeral," with everyone whispering how sorry they were to see the gallery close, she says, "It's a great thing that I'm closing. It frees me up to do so many more things and contribute more fully to the community, rather than worrying about the details of owning my own business."
"Thommy and I intend to continue to curate shows in other venues, we're interested in having openings in surprising spaces. La Vie doesn't have a storefront, but La Vie is the two of us, so it isn't going to disappear. We're both very invested and committed to the Pittsburgh art scene.
Lawrenceville galleries: A revolving door
By Kurt Shaw
TRIBUNE-REVIEW ART CRITIC
Sunday, September 7, 2008
After a two-year run, last weekend saw the last of LaVie gallery in Lawrenceville. With an impromptu closing party scheduled for the Friday evening before Labor Day, gallery co-owner Bronwyn Loughren says, "We closed quickly, so there wasn't the usual crowd."
Loughren and business partner Thommy Conroy found out a week earlier that they could close the space because Equita, a store currently selling earth friendly "green" products out of a Lawrenceville location known as the Ice House lofts, took over the lease with plans of relocating to LaVie's location on Butler Street and opening to the public after Sept. 15.
"We're closing because we have other things that we'd like to do," says LaVie gallery co-owner Bronwyn Loughren. "I've learned that I don't want to be a businesswoman for the rest of my life. In the end, the idealism gives way to reality, and it doesn't matter if I'm selling artwork or widgets, it's still a business, and that's dry and a bit too linear for my taste."
Known among local artists as a unique venue that focused on the selling of their works as opposed to mere display, LaVie was heralded as the hippest gallery to hit Lawrenceville in years when it opened.
"Somehow they have been able to corral some of the best young artists in town, and show their best work consistently, month-after-month," wrote art blogger Merge Divide last week on the blog "Serendipity" (dgrim.blogspot.com/). "The receptions have been well attended and elegantly provisioned, and the prices have always been affordable. Often the best art venues come and go quickly in this town, and leave folks reminiscing about them for a long time afterwards."
Catering to the younger set, the goal says Loughren, was to cultivate interest in collecting art on the most basic level.
"At La Vie we wanted to cultivate a new collector -- give someone who had never thought to invest in artwork a starting point," she says. "To present artwork with thoughtful curation and careful discretion is a lot of work; being able to say no to artists even if you like them because you don't just take anyone -- this has strengthened our reputation and we've had some stellar shows at La Vie."
True enough. Over the past two years, Loughren and Conroy managed to produce an event monthly, drawing in a large crowd with each new show. As for the closing party, Loughren says, "Probably 100 people came to the closing, sales were good and a diverse crowd, as usual."
Loughren says that even though the closing did "feel like a funeral," with everyone whispering how sorry they were to see the gallery close, she says, "It's a great thing that I'm closing. It frees me up to do so many more things and contribute more fully to the community, rather than worrying about the details of owning my own business."
"Thommy and I intend to continue to curate shows in other venues, we're interested in having openings in surprising spaces. La Vie doesn't have a storefront, but La Vie is the two of us, so it isn't going to disappear. We're both very invested and committed to the Pittsburgh art scene.
