Public Space: Anna Alexanian

 I think the idea of using public (or semi-private, in the case of a home or an apartment) space as gallery venue is an absolutely brilliant idea. It gives all of the power directly to the artists involved, and oftentimes removes the hand of the 'academy' entirely. This, I think, is a huge benefit for many artists working independently or are just starting out in the world of gallery spaces. At the same time, I think Picard brings up a few really great points about the complications involved. It's hard to navigate a situation where you live in the same place you show your work. You have to be careful around the art. You have to keep the place pristine. Pets and children and personal belongings become a liability, and the areas of your home where you have your gallery are never really 'yours'. That isn't a huge problem if you, for instance, live in a mansion, but for a lot of larger cities, especially Chicago where the act of in-home galleries is common, there just isn't enough space to comfortably live in and among the artwork being shown. I don't think this is a deterrent, however.

The illegality of an apartment-gallery, however, is. It seems completely ridiculous to me that someone can't run a business out of their home. Plenty of people do that. All you have to do is look on Etsy or Pinterest to see some soccer mom selling off bejeweled mason jars that she made in the kitchen of her suburban, two-story house. She's made a business out of it. If it's a successful venture, she makes enough money that she has to fill out a tax form. How is that model of business different than hosting a gallery out of an apartment? If it's the number of people, then I feel like house parties should be made illegal as well. If it's the sale of work or merchandise, then the suburban mom I mentioned shouldn't be allowed to do what she does, either. It makes very little sense to me, and Picard doesn't actually go into the legal details in her essay, which might be something to look into anyway.

Either way, illegal or not, I'm in full support of the apartment-gallery model, and I feel like I myself would be perfectly comfortable sharing a space like that with the public and the artwork.