With the bottom of a Chihuly chandelier in the top foreground, a view of the downstairs exhibition area at Schantz Galleries in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.
After 27 years of working together, Kenn Holsten and Jim Schantz are splitting up. In a completely amicable separation that became official on October 2, the 31-year-old high-end Stockbridge, Massachusetts, gallery specializing in contemporary artists working in glass will change its name to Schantz Galleries to reflect the new ownership. Longtime Holsten creative director Schantz and his wife, designer Kim Saul, have bought out Kenn Holsten, who will continue to represent artists through an online-only gallery at the new virtual Holsten Galleries, which will now be based in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
In a telephone interview, Schantz told GLASS: “We’re excited about taking the gallery forward and getting more involved with the artists.” He says that includes everything from bringing collectors to artists’ studios to introducing emerging artists into the gallery. “We’ll continue to promote as much as possible the established artists such as Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, and William Morris, as well as Dan Dailey, who just joined us this past summer,” Schantz added.
The Holsten Galleries display of Dale Chihuly's work at the 2008 SOFA CHICAGO.
Asked what distinctive imprint visitors to the Stockbridge gallery might notice as uniquely Schantz’s, he said to look for developments in the gallery’s relationships with its artists. “I’m an artist myself who happened to move to the Berkshires to teach painting and drawing, and who started to work with Kenn as a way to supplement my income. The job grew into what you might call the ‘creative director’ of the gallery.”
Schantz points to the lavish exhibitions that became a Holsten Galleries signature at SOFA CHICAGO as an aspect of the business he helped to develop and plans to continue. “Showing Chihuly’s work on a grand scale, designing a truly museum-quality display, these are part of an approach that is not going to change. You’ll see us continue to take that formula forward, and we will keep that same level of museum-quality presentation both in our exhibitions as well as in our advertising and catalogues, which are my wife Kim’s realm with her background in design.”
In a sign of good will between former business partners who are also great friends, Schantz Galleries and Holsten Galleries will be jointly exhibiting the work of Lino Tagliapietra at the 2009 SOFA CHICAGO next month. Notably absent from the display will be the work of Dale Chihuly. The display area, half the size of the expansive real estate Holsten Galleries typically had taken at SOFA CHICAGO in years past, will be devoted solely to the Italian maestro’s work.
“We have an excellent bond with Lino,” says Schantz. “I have to say, the level of support that we’ve received from Lino and Dale, as well as from William Morris, was really instrumental during the initial decision-making process about this change of ownership of the gallery.”
Asked about the fact that Dale Chihuly will be showing his work with Habatat Chicago instead of with the joint Schantz- Holsten galleries during the upcoming SOFA CHICAGO, Schantz characterized the decision as entirely mutual.
“Holsten Galleries has represented Dale since 1986, and from the very first SOFA we did in 1997, Dale has been there,” says Schantz. “It’s been a good long run, certainly. And in order to continue to come up with new and creative ways to promote the work, there comes a time when there has to be some kind of change, a stepping-back and reevaluating.”
The long-standing close relationship is far from over. In fact, Schantz says he will be traveling to Chihuly Studios in Seattle as soon as SOFA CHICAGO is over. “I’d prefer to keep my sights set on 2010 SOFA CHICAGO, possibly involving Chihuly and Lino together again, they are a great combination,” says Schantz. “Chihuly has been making really exciting new forms such as the mirrored Venetians…. a lot of the planning and brainstorming, takes place when we sit down and see the work…. there’s a certain way that the work has been presented, we’re going to find other ways.”
Whatever changes are in store for Schantz Galleries, they will likely develop over time. For now, it’s steady as she goes, according to Schantz. “We are going to keep what’s working working,” he says. “The beauty of this whole things is that it has been a very smooth and even symbiotic transition for us. The gallery’s door stayed open even on the day the gallery was sold, our staff is exactly the same. This has been a very cooperative transition that is good for Kenn, and good for my wife and myself as owners. The thing that has been really gratifying for me is the support from the artists and collectors.”
More information about Schantz Galleries is available on their website.
