On Thursday afternoon — June 27th — I finished cleaning the space that once held the Red Dragonfly art gallery and gift shop. At a little before 3:00pm, Pacific time, I met with Ed the building manager, signed the "exit documents" and then handed him back the keys to the premises.
The wire sculpture "Red Dragonfly" that was the gallery mascot and symbol kept me company till the very end. There seemed to be some "meaning" in letting this small piece of art that had become a sacred object of sorts be the last thing to leave.
The Red Dragonfly hangs in a now empty space...
Then I took it down and carefully packed it to travel home.
Took a final picture of what had been our work space for several years... from the back towards our front door:
And then from near the front door, towards the back.
All that remains now, is a final message posted on the front door...
As I said goodbye to the people who had been our fellow merchants in our little shopping arcade, I felt pretty broken-hearted. It's hard to have two people pour their heart and soul into a project... only to have it come up short.
I also considered the shaky future of small independent operations, particularly in the artistic and creative fields. At one point, our gallery was an outlet for some 50 artists to show their work. For some, it was their only connection to the outside.
I considered the fact that there simply aren't "half a dozen" other galleries in town for them to turn to.. as there was, maybe 10-15 years ago. There's pretty much nothing left here, aside from an overfilled artist's cooperative... and the dubious "invitation" for artists to "build a web site and become really good at Instagram and social media."
Not a particularly "shiny" future.
The Red Dragonfly (with Baby Dragonfly) in its new spot in our home
Life... After "Death?"
Meanwhile, the Red Dragonfly (the wire sculpture, in this case!) has a new home in the stairwell of our house... a nostalgic reminder of something we once were part of.
The "other" Red Dragonfly (meaning the name, and the art concept) will gradually be re-branded as an online presence of sorts... not entirely certain what form it will take, although it will probably involve writing about art and creativity, an online store of sorts, and maybe some eBay.
Beyond that... the future remains very uncertain.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for being part of this ongoing journey!
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