As part of our on-going profiling of successful young entrepreneurs, I was lucky enough to have Ash Butti answer a few questions about her gallery, Cryptic Canvas. I was present for the gallery opening and I think the one thing that really made impression on me, besides the awesome space itself, was the truly laid back atomsphere that Ash has created in the gallery. The artists are approachable and everyone’s made to feel welcome.
If you’re downtown Toronto anytime soon, I would highly reccommend that you stop by the gallery and seeing what’s currently on exhibit. Also, here are a few of the upcoming exhibitions,
“Camera Obscura”, Sculptural Glass Pinhole Cameras by Tara Gilchrist, Photography using cameras by Rick O’brien.
May 9th to 31st, Opening Reception May 9th 7-Midnight. Cocktails, hors d’eourves and music as always. Artists will be in attendance. Exhibit part of Contact Festival 2008
PE: Tell us about The Cryptic Canvas, it’s products and services.
Ash: The Cryptic Canvas is a gallery that is dedicated to assisting emerging artists and making the Toronto art scene as well as the art itself as accessible as possible to all clientele. For clients, every possible service and convenience you can think of is provided through the gallery – everything from in-home exhibits to a virtual gallery. We also carry all types of art, sculpture, painting, photography, mixed media etc. – so a one-stop shop gallery so to speak. The best part is that working with only emerging artists, the work is less expensive but of the same caliber of any of the high end galleries. My main focus was to have a gallery that was interesting and relaxed and something that would make you come back (even if it wasn’t to shop).
On the other side of it, I make a point to take really good care of our artists; we give them every advantage possible. We have information sessions on all areas of the business, as well as provide assistance with framing, printing, grant applications, sponsorships and so forth. (And my artists have rewarded me for this as our reputation and recommendations have artists applying to the gallery en mass and so we get the best of the best).
PE: What was the inspiration behind you starting your own gallery?
Ash: It was a result of loving art and coming from a low income family. I have always had issues with the accessibility of art and the art community. I wanted to make it fun and without pretension and as accessible as possible for everyone. Once involved in the industry I was bothered by how many young artists are treated in the gallery system. Artists have to learn the business side of art as they go. As a result they are often held back or taken advantage of as a result of their inexperience. I wanted to provide an opportunity where artists could learn the business so that they would be better prepared to protect their rights and work, network and bring in clients as well as get some much needed assistance financially.
PE: I always like to talk to people about their visions. What’s your vision for The Cryptic Canvas? Where do you see the business in say 3-5 years from now?
Ash: I’m not sure it would be much different from what I’m doing today. I would like the scale of work and assistance to artists to increase of course; but at the moment, I would be thrilled that we were still operating as we are today.
PE: What do you find to be the hardest part about running The Cryptic Canvas?
Ash: Oddly enough, what I love the most about my job is also the hardest to manage and that’s working with young artists. When working with emerging artists you are dealing with individuals at a very fragile stage of their career. I believe that being a good gallery director requires that you have a personal stake in their success beyond its benefits to the gallery itself. Even when the work has real merit it isn’t always recognized no matter how hard you work for them or they work for you, so that can be really taxing at the end of the day.
PE: If you were able to give one piece of advice to an aspiring entrepreneur what would it be?
Ash: I think my most honest answer and the thing that has gotten me to this stage is that you have to have the people that surround you, clients, staff, suppliers, friends and family etc. invested in your success. When you have people blocking for you in every area of your business, its amazing how far it can take you. (I sound like an office ‘training room’ inspirational poster…but it really is true.)
PE: Could you tell us about that moment in time, your “Eureka” moment, when all the ideas you had about your business just started to come together?
Ash: I don’t think I ever had a ‘eureka’ moment. Since The Cryptic Canvas as a business developed over a really long period of time and through a lot of dabbling in different areas of the business I think it was a lot of trial and error and the little issues that arose through working with clients, dealing with artists and organizing exhibits bit by bit brought together my overall mandate.
PE: If you were able to change one single thing about the way in which you started your business what would it be?
Ash: Time. The circumstances threw me into a bit of a whirlwind, and as such I wasn’t able to be as prepared for the ‘start date’ as I would have wanted to be. But I’m not sure I would have changed it, the sacrifices for that extra time I don’t think would have been worth it.
PE: Could you tell us how you managed to find those first artists for the gallery?
Ash: Most of my artists came from my first exhibit in Toronto, Dexteritas. I was bored with the work I was doing at the time and decided to throw a fundraiser art exhibit to see if I could raise a little money to eventually start a gallery. I had no ‘name’ or much of a history that they could bank on but I went around to different art exhibits and dug up contact information and just started emailing artists I liked with the proposal for the gallery and requested their participation in the fundraiser. The artists that participated in the exhibit have stuck with me ever since and for that I’m very grateful for it as they really did take a huge chance on me (that and I really did believe in their work).
PE: What has been your most method of attracting new customers to your gallery?
Ash: Word of mouth is number one. But also, advertising through mailing lists and invitations to exhibits seem to stir up the most interest. The artists are great promoters of their work as well so they send in a lot of people.
PE: Just how important is “word-of-mouth” advertising to the overall success of The Cryptic canvas?
Ash: Word of mouth really is the most important aspect of gallery promotion. Art is something people show off and like to talk about and the gallery is tied to that piece of art and all conversations surrounding it permanently. So the more work we get out there the more people it brings in.
PE: When you’re not busy running your company what do you like to do with your time?
Ash: I like to do construction, of any kind. The more tools involved the better. Realistically though, any project I’ve taken on since the gallery opened was for the gallery itself. I think I’ve come to accept that for the next little while the work day really never ends.
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