Courtesy RAHEEM NELSON
One can now add threads to the ceremonial ribbons Mayor Toni Harp has been cutting across the city lately — 101 of them, to be exact.
DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTOS
Harp attended the grand opening of 101 Threads at 118 Court St.
She was there along with representatives from the Town Green Special Services District’s most recent Friday “On9” program as they celebrated the innovative art gallery, which is dedicated to “cultivating the intangible.”
Business partners Brian Monahan and Vishal Patel — whose other venture, A Happy Life Coffee (“the world’s only coffee shop dedicated to happiness!”) recently launched at the Grove at 756 Chapel St. — have founded a unique art gallery that they hope will not only function as an arts cooperative for the 101 artists it plans to represent, but as a community activity gathering place.
“We plan on having other events throughout the week, such as poetry slams, spoken word events, readings, dance and music events — we are open to many forms of art and uses of the space,” said Monahan.
Poppies, by Carol Quinn of Knoxville, TN.
According to Monahan, the goal of the gallery is to facilitate “new connections for artists, acting as a conduit, a connector of threads, and providing support for the artist to do what they do best.”
The business model includes an almost unheard of zero-commission arrangement, whereby artists receive 100% of the sale of their artwork. A monthly $50 artists’ fee supports the work of the gallery and includes a year-round visual presence on the 101 Threads website and at the gallery, along with an annual solo show.
Painting by Matthew Moore of Maine.
The gallery will be casting a wide net in recruiting artists from the greater New Haven area, but also from around the country: “We see each of the artists as a thread that tethers us to some other location in some other time, in some other sphere of influence,” Monahan said. “The goal of the gallery is to bring these threads to one place to showcase them in an interesting and impactful way.”
To date, the gallery has signed up 20 artists representing four states.
Reworx’s Maureen Garceau shows the one-of-a-kind inventory.
Presently sharing space in the 2,400 square foot gallery is Reworx Collective, a Project Storefronts pop-up retail furniture maker specializing in one-of-a-kind “rustic modern”-style furnishings created with reclaimed, salvaged, and found materials.
Reworx co-owners Steve and Maureen Garceau, whose factory is located in Watertown, Conn., and who are displaying the work of 12 artisans in the gallery, say they hope to have a permanent footprint in New Haven.
Among the gallery artists who attended the exhibit was New Haven artist Raheem Nelson, whose iPad paintings using the Sketchbook Pro app may be familiar to New Haven audiences. Drawing on location at the grand opening, Nelson — sporting some very impressive threads of his own for the occasion — has the distinction of being number 1 thread to sign up of the 101 threads total to come.
Another artist present was Mark Quill of Worcester, Mass., whose end grain art will be featured in the 101 Threads inaugural solo exhibit on May 23. Quill, a cabinet maker by trade, uses only the natural color of wood in his crafted wood paintings. He said he started creating the pieces during an extended period of caregiving for his ailing ex-wife. His approach to the all-wood medium is “evolving weekly.”
Just one more question: Why 101 threads? What’s in the number?
Monahan said they came to the name in a number of ways. “It implies that we are more than just some number of artists working together. It shows that we are intentional, it shows that we are ambitious. Why stop at 100? 101 implies that we have the next set of artists to find, and the next set of goals or stepping stones to reach for.”
Twisted Copper wire tree by Brian Monahan.
For more information about 101 Threads, visit the website or contact the gallery at info@101threads.com.