How I Grew a Gallery in 90 Days

Growing a gallery isn’t easy. While we had the seed (or the idea created by Kenny Kim), I don’t think we recognized how much sun, water and attention the seed needed to grow. The MMS Gallery’s seed was to showcase everyday pictures taken by everyday people through the use of their smart phones.

After we had the idea, we then needed to find a home for it, feed it, talk to it, care for it and spend everyday making sure it was in good health. Kenny and I knew the gallery could not be completely handled by two people who both work full time jobs, which is where O3 came in to lend a hand in the gallery's growth. O3 was able to be like our live in Godmother; as they offered it a home, they fed it when needed, gave it an online space with social media appeal and tended to its quick growth. When it really began to bloom our Godmother made sure that it received the proper amount of exposure as well, involving SEER Interactive to give the Gallery an SEO push, and bringing in Peter Breslow to provide a little bit of a PR boost as well. Kenny and I were able to tend to the gallery when our schedules allowed it but were also able to appreciate it as it grew from a locally grown idea to having international appeal.

Now that we had the nurturing in place, we needed to make sure the event itself would become a success. As with any event, there was a certain amount of finesse that must be applied and attention to detail. With the gallery growing at a steady pace we had to take into consideration that with all the submissions we were receiving, only 236 were going to be picked to be display on the gallery walls. This in itself was a hard task at hand but we wanted to ensure it was done right regardless. Multiple factors were taken into consideration including; subject matter, composition, color, meaning, emotion and visual appeal.

Display is another factor that needs to be considered since you don’t want your presentation to take away from your idea or spoil it. The subject matter and surroundings should be factored into your decision to choose the appropriate materials. For The MMS Gallery, we wanted the images to speak for themselves and we also wanted the system in which we hang the images to compliment the industrial feel of the space. With the images being hung from a piece of thick wire we were able to easily move them around and organize them in the best visual composition with ease.

With the idea fully grown and in full bloom, the time finally came to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Organizing a show was the peak of The MMS Gallery idea and a way to show the public all of our hard work and what the gallery was really all about. With the help of our sponsors; Di Bruno Brothers, Sly Fox Brewing Company and Tiger Printing Group, we were able to have an extremely successful opening night, which included many of the artists responsible for the gallery’s success.

Like any living thing, The MMS Gallery continues to grow. With the first gallery under our belts we have a better knowledge of what it takes to grow a small idea into a great one. Stay tuned for the next installment of The MMS Gallery.