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Business & Tech

Strains for Stockton Ave. Arts District

Efforts in recent years to establish an arts district on upper Stockton Avenue are facing new challenges. Immediate forecast: cloudy.

The arts cluster of Stockton Avenue faces an uncertain future as Fingado Art Gallery closes, The Glenn Custom Framing struggles with overhead and Stockton Avenue Arts Stroll is put on hold, at least for now.

Next door to The Glenn Custom Framing on Stockton Avenue, Pam Fingado has moved out of her gallery space and Kathleen Glenn is rethinking her whole business approach in order to continue be able to pay the rent on her framing shop and gallery space.

Said Fingado of the recent move, “I won't deny that the sluggish economy played an important part in my decision, because when the public is not comfortable with spending money and they are concerned about housing, food, gas and jobs, purchasing items such as art is not on their list of priorities."

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"However, considering the economy, I was doing OK," she explained, but, "I really felt it was time to move on and consider other options."

The Fingado Art Gallery first opened on Stockton Avenue in 2008, the same year that saw the inaugural of the Stockton Avenue Arts Stroll, a miniature street festival/open house hosted by local arts-related merchants and artists. 

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The Fingado space won’t go empty. Kate Peterson, a jewelry designer who was previously renting space in The Village Shops on San Pablo Avenue, is moving her business, Kate Peterson Designs, in.  

The economic landscape may have affected an additional gallery owner in the recent past, according to Glenn.

Patricia Zemanek of Eclectix, a studio focused on curating alternative, "new-brow" pieces for the visual arts, used to have a space located on 10082 San Pablo Avenue, by Central Avenue, and first opened in 2006. According to Zemanek's business website, "Eclectix closed it’s storefront space in 2010."

“Since 2008, I haven’t raised my prices and all of my expenses have gone up,” said Glenn, speaking to rent and overhead at The Glenn Custom Framing.

Although she could easily justify doing so, Glenn is opposed to raising her prices. She doesn’t want to pass the expenses on to her customers because she feels she provides a service that people want but is more of a luxury than a need. 

The desire to preserve the Stockton Avenue arts cluster is fed in part by the conviction that El Cerrito benefits from art-centric businesses staying within the community. Kathleen Glenn is trying to help this happen by staying put and having faith that things will get better if she re-envisions her approach.

Her framing shop has been a staple in El Cerrito’s arts community – some may argue that she is the forerunner of the recent El Cerrito arts community – for 39 years.

Because of her struggles keeping up with her overhead over the past couple of years, and not raising her prices, Glenn has played around with many more creative ideas: from inviting the to rent the front of her space (they thought about it, but didn't bite) to moving to a different commercial space on Potrero Avenue that she would have had to rent with additional artists in order to be able to afford.

And she would rather stay put.

“(The Glenn) needs to become a stable of artists who want to be in business for themselves,” she said of the new business model she recently decided to put into writing. Essentially, these artists will be renting a space in Glenn's gallery. 

“They can rent the space in here and get a feel for that and maybe then they’ll go out into the community," said Glenn. She has been actively speaking with local artists about her plans, and is still interviewing potential renters. 

Stockton Avenue already has quite a few destination points – from , , 7 Eleven, , , and the El Cerrito  which rents out space to local organizations and groups, to the and the , the , and the , which connects other parts of the city with Stockton Avenue.

In the past, local shops, including Well Grounded, have helped to organize the Stockton Avenue Art Stroll, which brings art and a walking community of artists and admirers of art to the street. In 2010, the stroll occurred three times. This year it has only occured once. 

Glenn stated that the stroll may be put on hold for a time. 

"It's on hold right now," said Kevin O'Neal of Well Grounded. He didn't mention an economic or financial reason: he said that he is working on changing it to more of a mid-Saturday event than an evening event. 

Like The Glenn, Well Grounded exhibits the work of local artists and photographers on a rotating basis, operating as a gallery in addition to a coffee shop. 

Fingado, too, wants to open doors to other artists, but perhaps in a different way.

"I will continue to explore other possible sites and venues," she said and added that collaborations are equally important to her. She has been involved with small group of women who are very interested in starting a gallery retail collective of some sort.

"We just need the right spot and good timing," she said.

In the meantime, she is dedicating her time to blogging on issues related to art and artists and to coaching.  

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