Call for Artists and Vision Statement for Liquid Forest Galleries
Doug Myerscough
 

You must be the change you wish to see in the world.       Ghandi

     As many of you are no doubt aware, as a result of a low cost of living and the availability of real estate at a very low price, the Denison Texas art scene is being compared to Santa Fe New Mexico in the early years but with a different flavor. Within the last few years more than twenty new fine art galleries have opened here and more are planned. The word has begun to get around (thanks in large part to some very smart and gracious gallery owners) and the streets are filling with art investors from the larger surrounding cities as well as a few buyers from as far away as New York and L.A. This tiny little town located on Lake Texoma (about an hour north of the Dallas Ft. Worth area) now has everything from Matisse's, Picasso's, and other masters to some of the top name contemporary artists. Many artists have moved here and many more who have lived in the area for years but never bothered to show their work locally (me included) are now opening their studios to the public. If your work doesn't fit with our gallery concept there may be other gallery owners in the area who would love to show your work.
     My wife Sharol and I have begun construction on a different sort of art gallery (Liquid Forest Galleries) which should open in 2005 - faster if someone reading this wants to take pity on us and send a gift of about half a million dollars (I had to at least try :-)). The gallery will feature separate buildings for different styles (if we can figure out the logistics, at least two of which will also be guesthouses for out of town customers, visiting artists etc.) - golf cart paths leading through approximately seven acres of sculpture gardens in the woods, numerous flower and Japanese gardens and several ponds. We are also in the process of buying one of the few remaining downtown buildings for use as an art gallery and the opening date could be as soon as a few months.  If you are an artist who would like to be considered, please email us and we will arrange to view your work. We will be looking for talented, life affirming, positive artists and sculptors who we believe constitute a good financial investment for our customers. The work we are looking for will look at life, design and color through the eyes of an optimist - but with the depth of wisdom, not blinders. Work which focuses on the ills of the world (unless it points a well considered direction for positive change), regardless of how well done, will not be considered.
     The following is an oversimplification in the interest of brevity.  Art buyers at the higher price levels fall mainly into two groups: pseudo intellectuals and real intellectuals.   The former are the consumers of the world - those who P.T. Barnum loved so much.  Much like those who lose fortunes investing in stocks that are already at their peak and overvalued, they buy whatever hot trend they happen to see in whatever magazine they flip through that they think represents "high art"- they are NOT our customers. The art business in this area is at the instep of an exponential curve, these people will not find Denison Texas for many years to come.
     The buyers we have seen thus far are highly educated professionals who know exactly what they are doing (I can't emphasize this enough) - they may have more practical knowledge about art than you (or your art history professor).  They buy art based on quality before it becomes "hot" - and stop buying it when it becomes overvalued.  We plan to cater to this crowd and find artists, sculptors, printmakers and fine artists in all media who have vision for the future but are not yet selling work at it's sustainable investment value.  If your work already sells in the six figures, go elsewhere, we do not yet have the customers who support that price range although mid to upper five figures is salable if the work is absolutely outstanding and represents an obvious value at that price.
     It is said that art is a reflection of the times - true but incomplete.  Art can also be; a potent visionary medium to point new directions, a soulful memory with the advantage of hindsight, a unique palette, an unconventional hand, a raw but potent design sense, a look at the world with answers, not laments of powerlessness or mere expository commentaries on the sickness that is all too apparent.  I don't need to agree with your vision to want to show your work - I would almost prefer to disagree or be unable to comprehend, but think highly enough of your mind and skill to respect your ideology, even if I don't fully understand it.  I am just barely smart enough to realize that I am an idiot  - not bright enough to comprehend the bottomless depths of my own ignorance.
     I feel that it is far too easy to sit back and paint the obvious perversities, and although I strongly believe there is a place for such work, I prefer to surround myself with positive imagery.  I know you have all been to art school and have had your heads filled with indelible  images of atrocities that were important and necessary in their time - we are looking for artists who have made a conscious decision to place their focus on more enlightened possibilities or those who by their very nature, see beauty through the shadows.  We want people to feel that there lives have been made in some way better by having been here, and we would like them to come back.  We are looking for world class talent who either think beyond the mundane or see it with the freshness and zest of a child who can see the world as still new and worth exploring.
     We are not salespeople or part of the social elite - we both grew up poor and paid for our own education (six miles to school, barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways... you know the story).   I'm reclusive and have almost as much social grace as a Rhinoceros at full charge - your work must be good enough to LITERALLY sell itself - no customer will ever get a sales pitch here.  We will answer questions to the best of our ability and be cordial, spend as much or as little time with the customer as they would like, but we will never push.  When we hire people to work in the galleries, we will be looking for sociable art historians (is that a contradiction in terms?), not salespeople.
     This is when I will get to paint the paintings I wished that I had over the course of my lifetime  - I would like to be in good company and feel a kinship with the artists who show here.