Tuesday, September 30, 2003

By Adrian McCoy, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

For artists, one of the biggest challenges is finding places to show and sell their work. For galleries, maintaining those spaces also can be a challenge.

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Now grainbag On-Line Gallery (www.grainbag.com) has neatly circumvented both of these problems.

Curator/artist Michael Leahy launched the online-only gallery in December 2001 with Web developer Mark Grabanski of New York. Leahy, a Pittsburgh real estate appraiser, is also a drummer with the band Americonski. He says grainbag "grew out of speaking with a lot of artists in Pittsburgh who were showing work consistently but really not selling very well. It's a great city for artists to work -- it's very affordable -- but it really lacks the market that can sustain the artist." Taking the gallery into cyberspace "seemed like a good way to market the individual artist beyond the region."

The online gallery started out as a collective of local and regional artists and has since grown to include artists from outside the United States.

The gallery shows painting, photography, collage and sculpture. Clicking on one of the thumbnails on the home page takes the virtual gallery visitor to a page featuring more work by that artist. Clicking on individual works on the artist's page shows an enlarged image, plus information on measurements and prices.

Leahy says some artists have been rejected not because their work isn't good, but because it doesn't translate well online.

There are advantages and disadvantages to a virtual art gallery. One benefit is very low overhead. "We don't have to pay utilities and rent," Leahy says. "Hosting fees and the domain name are annual fees. This year, those will be recouped without any problem."

There are drawbacks, too. "You lack that tactile quality, the human interaction with the art," he says. And, he adds, "We don't have the luxury of getting our customers a little bit tipsy at openings."

The Web site promotes music and literature as well as the visual arts. It sells CDs by some local bands and musicians and is currently selling "Inventing Victor," a book of short stories by Jennifer Bannan that was published by Carnegie Mellon Press, recent issues of Creative Nonfiction and books published by the online magazine The New Yinzer.

Like any gallery, grainbag collects a commission on works it sells. For buyers who are wary of buying a work of art they've seen only on their computer screen, there's a money-back guarantee.

Leahy says he sells a few CDs each week. Art sells less frequently, with photography being the most popular.

The gallery does occasionally have a physical presence. It has held exhibitions at Quiet Storm on Penn Avenue in Garfield and took part in the recent Idea Mart at the Brew House in the South Side. In February, it will have another show at Garfield Art Works.

The site also features Leahy's "Curator's Blog," an illustrated journal with numerous references and links to what's new with gallery artists and arts events around town. The Web log was designed to help overcome the lack of a physical gallery space, Leahy says. "It allows us to personalize the experience, generate return traffic, guide customers to the latest work and assure them that there is someone behind it all keeping a watchful eye on their investment ... all the while tapping into a computer savvy market."

Leahy says grainbag is a little ahead of the curve, as far as art buyers who think of the Internet as a place to shop. "We're ahead of the game. I think the trend is going to swing in our favor." When it does, "We're pretty well positioned to have an established gallery."

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