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Exploring Life & Business with Anita Sue Kolman of Kolman & Reeb Gallery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anita Sue Kolman.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
When I was a graduate student in Sociology at the University of Minnesota, I expected my post-Ph.D. career to follow the academic path emphasizing research and college-level teaching. Initially, that is exactly what happened. I participated in research at the University of Minnesota and taught at Augsburg and St. Catherine Universities. After a decade in academe, for a variety of reasons, I decided to shift focus and use my research skills to evaluate social service programs operated by the Amherst H. Wilder Foundation. During the same time frame that I worked in the Wilder Research Office, I decided to explore my lifelong interest in the arts and volunteer as an Arts Educator for the St. Louis Park Schools and as a Docent at the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum.

My next career shift was to leave Wilder and start my own firm that competed for evaluation work for public agencies. One of my clients was the Perpich Center for Arts Education. My work for the Perpich Center included traveling around the entire State of Minnesota observing programs and meeting artists and art educators. In 2001, that experience, my work as a volunteer art educator and Docent, and other contacts with artists convinced me that I could use my professional skills to represent artists and assist them in marketing and selling their work to art lovers and collectors. In 2010, I leveraged my experience as an Artist Representative to increase my impact by opening a 1500 sq. ft. art gallery in the Northrup King Building in Northeast Minneapolis. The Anita Sue Kolman Gallery, now called the Kolman & Reeb Gallery, emphasized selling art by making personal connections between artists and art lovers.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My experience is that few artists or art galleries enjoy smooth roads. Art sales are discretionary and volatile. In our best year, the Gallery’s gross sales were five times as large as our worst year. Of course, like other businesses, the Gallery was severely impacted by Covid-19. Before the pandemic, most sales occurred because customers visited the Gallery in person. When the pandemic started, we were forced to close for several months. During that time, we had to change the way we interacted with our customers, so they would not forget us. We expanded our visibility on social media by increasing both the quality and quantity of our posts. For example, we created an illustrated post for each of our client artists showing how they created their work. We produced enthusiastic short videos highlighting artwork for sale through the Gallery. Finally, we initiated an online Marketplace, so our customers could purchase artworks directly from the Gallery’s website.

As you know, we’re big fans of Kolman & Reeb Gallery. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We connect Minnesota artists primarily with local art collectors, but also with art lovers nationally and internationally. We focus on people-to-people connections. When possible, we facilitate face-to-face opportunities for both art lovers and artists. We accomplish these goals by exhibiting contemporary work by Minnesota artists in diverse media.

Kolman & Reeb Gallery is a unique collaboration between Anita Sue Kolman, arts patron, and Jodi Reeb, artist and curator. Kolman & Reeb holds exhibitions celebrating the evolving aesthetics of the established artists it represents, with an eye toward placing those works in the homes and businesses of discerning collectors. The gallery also mentors emerging artists whose work demonstrates prowess and promise.

Kolman & Reeb Gallery has become an integral part of the Twin Cities’ visual arts community. The gallery hosts and participates in open forums to advance the public’s understanding of the value of art and collecting, and to advance artists’ professional development. It’s a community resource that invites everyone to discover the most singular artistic voices working in Minnesota today.

What I am most proud of brand-wise are activities that have expanded the gallery’s reach beyond Minnesota, and of our recent Project Space initiative. For example, we have participated in international art shows in New York City and Miami Beach where we have connected to and sold artworks to national and international art collectors.

The Kolman & Reeb Gallery Project Space is an initiative launched in 2021 to further support Minnesota visual artists. The program awards four grants per year of $10,000 each to four Minnesota visual artists. The goal of the grant program is to provide artists with the funds, space, and support they need to create an important project that will significantly impact their artistic careers. Additionally, the gallery’s aim is to support projects that will bring powerfully engaging and thought-provoking experiences to the gallery’s followers, visitors, and to the public.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
Art sales are strongly correlated with the state of the economy. We need to keep doing our best and hope that some of the economic volatility in the United States and the world will have less influence as time goes on. Experienced observers expect online art sales to continue to increase as a percentage of total sales. Kolman & Reeb Gallery is well positioned to take advantage of this increase with its 24/7 website Marketplace and with our social media presence.

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