we were told again and again that january was a hard month for first thursday in portland. the weather is too cold for most to brave, and many are financially tapped out after the holidays. elizabeth and i approached the opening last week with excitement mixed with trepidation. despite my uncertainty i chose to go into it without expectations, because in my experience expectations often lead to disappointment.in the final hours of the day, approaching 6'o'clock when we would throw open the doors, i felt nervous. the show looked amazing, it filled the space well, and all our ducks were in order, yet i couldn't help but feel a bit anxious simply because it mattered to me so much. i'm a social person, but i get nervous in large crowds of people and openings have been notoriously hard for me. i'm not sure where it came from, but in the final minutes before we opening i managed to stumble on a rather significant well of confidence, and when people started streaming in i felt like a million bucks.
luckily, this feeling of elation was not only engendered by how amazing i felt in my little black dress. from the very beginning the public's reception to the show was amazing, and the room filled quickly! for almost four hours the tribute gallery was packed wall to wall. though i did spend a good chunk of time pouring beer (generously donated by our friends at ninkasi brewing) and leveling pieces that were gently jostled by the lively crowd, i managed to have a number of wonderful conversations with people about art, curation and the tribute gallery.
we sold six originals the first night, which is great for a january first thursday! and more importantly an impressive number of portland's art lovers got the chance to see play for keeps in all its opening night glory. tribute gallery was the most hopping spot on the block without a question. while other galleries hosted beautiful openings with plenty of breathing room, the play for keeps opening could only be described as HOT. the body heat alone was enough to send me running (more like slowly making my way) out the door into the cold january night every few laps. elizabeth and i got some of the greatest compliments. one man told me that it was the best group art show that he had been to since living in portland, and someone said to elizabeth that they saw more pieces in the show that they would hang in their bedroom than any other show they'd seen (bedroom art is personal! that's a big compliment!)
all of the pictures that i've posted here were taken by jon macnair's friend ellen, who was a delight to talk to, and took some amazing pictures! i will hopefully have more to post soon. you can see more at jon macnair's blog scritchy scraps.
