Get This! Gallery R.I.P - I'll Miss the Contribution to the Street

I'll miss the opening nights when Get This! spilled light and art and people into the street.


Your've already heard, right? Get This Gallery Closes After 10 Years. I say hale and farewell.


If you don't follow the art scene: We just hate it when our galleries close, afraid it represents some fatal flaw in us and our community. Others will have their say on this. I loved it on opening nights.


On Monroe across from the Park Tavern, it was smack on the sidewalk.


Openings were crowded and it was noisy inside so folks moved in and out.


It was comfortable out there. You could see the art, you could see the people, you could breathe, you connected with the street.


Atlanta's art people really love to chat and the Get This! crowd chatted more than most.


It was quieter out back but it was like sneaking out. I preferred the front.


The drive-by's didn't know what was happening but they could feel the energy.


On opening nights the little strip was full of life. I hope there will be another gallery in there soon.

One more thing I'll miss.


Get This! owner Lloyd Benjamin is big and tall and you could find him in the crowd.

And Lloyd was always particularly happy that I was there. I'll bet he made you feel that way too.

I say congratulations and farewell to Get This! Best wishes to Lloyd on his new ventures.

Bonus:

When Get This was on 11th.

Gordon's Column, Remembering Gordon, Cherishing our Gordons.

I watched as the chief mason looked over his shoulder tilting the brick, looking back at Gordon for the proper angle knowing he was building something special. This glorious column and fencing made the little porch into a welcoming outdoor room.

Most of Gordon's clients have things like this. It could be a piece of furniture, a painting, bowl, color, fabric, or nicknack, something we couldn't imagine working. We call them "Gordons" and we smile. Why did we ever doubt him?

When I'm in Decatur, I drive this great little street to see this little 1925 house, to remember Gordon Stringer via this column and that moment with the mason.

 
Gordon designed this renovation, designed everything inside and out. He punctuated it with two "crazy" columns.


Gordon gave me a tour when it was all studs, walls moved, ceilings raised, skylights in, bathrooms laid out, kitchen roughed out.

Inside were the lanterns, the curvy metal fencing, the fruity urns and plinths, a drawing of the shutters, color samples of everything. These were the details. You can see that Gordon pulled the color of the fruity urns into the window and door frames.


Gordon shopped Scott Antique Market among other places. He'd find things that fit his vision, knowing he could make it work. I don't know if the purchases came from the vision or the vision from the purchases. Probably both.

If you could keep up with him, shopping with Gordon was big fun.


I was there the day the masons built the columns. Gordon directed every brick course by eye.

The chief mason knew he was building something unique and special, building a Gordon.

Every time I drive by I smile.