Last Shows, Part 1: Is the Island of the Arts Shrinking?

Solares Hill › August 19, 2009

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Summary

That was then. Now, he sees that clientele changed to a quiet, not particularly hip flow of tourists who aren't buying art because they are not buying new homes. Stating that Key West is "in flux," [Gary Lichtenstein] said there was "no season this year ... our business was newhome buyer driven, and the decline in the real estate market has really impacted our gallery." Although the gallery does a well-established trade in framing artwork on their premises, that business has also declined significantly. "We used to do 20-30 frames a day, now that number is less than half," he said.

Kennedy Studios will have a closing auction over Memorial Day weekend, conducted by auctioneer Roy Henson. Spanning several days, the event will "sell out our entire inventory" including work not currently on display. Lichtenstein isn't sure who will come to the auction - oddly the gallery does not maintain a mailing list - but hopes that people "from all over Florida" will attend. While nothing is available online, there will be "a free print for everyone who registers for the auction at the gallery." Until then work now on view is available at 50 percent off original prices.

What success there was changed after the hurricanes of 2005. Since that fall, Weinberg has sold "less than half" as much art, especially to European visitors. Apart from reduced sales, the quality of tourists and their level of sophistication has been "radically different;" this is not to say they aren't monied, but "just because they're loaded doesn't make them urbane."