Amy and I love art – especially contemporary art. We were long term patrons of an art gallery in Boulder on 1011 Pearl Street called Maclaren Markowitz Gallery. The gallery – after having a successful run for 15 years – started to have tough times as the economy started to tank in 2001. To try to be helpful, we became investors in the gallery and were able to help give it a few more years of life. While it could have continued to limp along, at some point everyone was tired and the primary owners decided to close the business and move on with their lives.
We’ve continued to be tangentially involved in the local Boulder art scene, mostly through our relationships with several artists that we love, as well as the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and The Dairy Center for the Arts. When a few folks – including one of the old managers at Maclaren Markowitz – started talking about opening a new gallery – we were enthusiastically supportive.
Blink Gallery started to come together and – at some point – we decided to join the small investor base and be directly supportive of the creation of this new gallery. With a stroke of luck, they were able to get the “old Maclaren location” at 1011 Pearl Street and have done a great job of updating the gallery space to a contemporary, edgy feel on almost no budget. The two founders of Blink – Susan Knickle and Pam Gonacha – have worked tirelessly to get Blink up and running. If you are in Boulder on Pearl Street, stop by and take a look at the new gallery in town. Their formal opening is on Friday, June 23rd from 6pm – 10pm – I’m sure they’d love to see you (and don’t forget to bring your checkbook.)