Gloom and doom appear to dominate the media today. It’s time for a success story. Fourteen years ago, 20 talented local artists decided to put their talents together to start a cooperative gallery in downtown Prescott. Their story is not unique; entrepreneurs dream of being in charge of their own destiny. But, statistically, their successes are unique. Most small businesses fail in a short time. Businesses with 20 partners are not common. All decisions have to be voted on; nothing happens quickly. But, here we are, 14 years later with six of it’s founding members still a part of this vibrant business.
Arts Prescott Gallery opened its doors on May 23, 1994 with 20 members. Eight months after opening, our present location at 134 S. Montezuma opened up and those original gallant members decided that for the gallery to be truly successful, they had to move; everyone agrees that they never would have survived in their original location, just one block off the Square. Making the change was tough though; the rent was greater and the space was larger … and renovations that had just been completed had to be undertaken again on a much larger scale. More artists had to be recruited (we now have 22 members) and lots of labor-hours had to be logged to transform the space from an office to the home-town gallery they all envisioned.
Our presence on ‘Whiskey Row’ is worth all our work and perseverance. Fortunately, Francis Field, the owner of the building, was also an artist herself and believed that Prescott needed to have a gallery for local artists on Whiskey Row. After the move, the Gallery’s sales instantly doubled from the first location!
A bit of trivia for Prescott historians: Arts Prescott Gallery resides in what was once known as the Green Frog Bar & Restaurant; for nostalgia purposes, our original logo incorporated that little frog. We still have frogs for sale; they’re painted these days.