Leaky Roof Threatens Gallery5

Anonymous, I agree, people are so ready to attack anything and everything. Anon, since you have been bashing G5 for a long time through style weekly comment forums, perhaps you would like some clarification. Please give me a call at 804 644 0005 and I will give you a detailed story of the building and its ownership. We have fought too long to try to save the building from the city and developers in the 70's and then again from the crackpot director and the board who let the place go under in 2003 (give or take a year). If you want to know Tom Robinson's personal story, give me a call as well and I will direct you to him.
Until then, please come out and physically support Richmond's history and arts.

What standing would Robinson have had to prosecute anyone? Yet another example of Richmonders sweeping stuff under the rug to avoid telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

A little historical clarity-Robinson bought the historic building from the City to keep it from being demolished. In 1983, he donated it to the Virginia Fire and Police Museum - Steamer Co. No. 5, but continued to pay its bills. In 2002, Robinson "retired" from his volunteer position and the Board hired a new Director. In a little over a year, the new director, who failed to raise any monies during her tenure, drove the museum into severe debt, closed the doors and sold Robinson's massive fire and police collection on ebay and left town. Before resigning in disgrace, the Board voted to "sell" the building back to Robinson if he paid off all of the new debt and promised not to prosecute and hold the Board responsible for its lack of oversight. Now that Gallery5 has finally received its own 501 (c) 3 status, the building is, once again, being donated by Tom Robinson. How much more can one person do to save Richmond's history?

Anonymous.

Sorry about your lack of reading comprehension skills. The referenced quote comes directly from Ms. Robinson's explanation as to why she started the gallery, which, by the way, opened it's doors less than 5 years ago.

To Anon... Uh no, that would have been the city doing the selling. Robinson bought it back in the 70's to keep the city from ripping it down or selling it to a developer. Are you ready to just attack anything about everything?

Re: "Developer's wetdream" .....Great Leapin' Lizards, now there's an image that image that would make Daddy Warbucks blush. Perhaps Viagra could help redirect that energy ....

"This building was 5 minutes from being sold and turned into another private developers' wet dream and the history lost."

Uh... wouldn't that have been Tom Robinson doing the selling?

To Sam - Fire is always a concern in crowded buildings but, if you had bothered to look up you would have noticed the full fire-suppression system, individual fire extinguishers throughout the building, and smoke detectors and metal ceilings on both floors. All of the volunteers are trained to direct visitors to the nearest door, and exit plans are posted in several areas throughout the building. With a 160-year record of being both fire and accident-free, Gallery5 maintains an unmatched safety record for its patrons. Enjoy your visit.

Maybe if the people who flocked to 1st Fridays spent some money and bought some art, things would be a little easier for gallery owners. Try being an artist or gallery owner in this economy.

What I've worried about regarding Gallery 5 recently isn't water. It's fire

During super crowded events when both floors of this former firehouse are packed shoulder to shoulder and nose to nape with literally hundreds of people, especially on that tiny narrow staircase at the rear, how would anyone get out if a fire broke out?

I really must bother the person that wrote popular art gallery should be able to fix their own roof. I take he is from the old Richmond Art scene that didn't really care about educating people in the arts or getting them to take an interest. I've been around for a long time and I can remember the days when the art shows were boring and you were told what kind of art you were suppose to like or buy just because it was the in thing for a few people. One show I attended , once outside the gallery, a lady said it was the worst art work they had ever seen but they had to buy a piece because her husband made a donation to one of her organizations. The lady had a gallery ,really as a hobby, and loved to feel she knew a great deal about art. Terrble artist herself! One of those that loved the social connection s that went with the scene,.
You should not be told what kind of art you should like.IT should be one soul connecting at that point in time with another soul.
There were certain people that controlled the art s in Richmond. They didn't and still don't like anything new and different unless they come up with the idea first.
They would love nothing more but to see many of the new art groups just fold. The only thing they have to hang on to is their past glory and I really think all their crowd is getting old and don't know how to come up with new ideas. Instead of supporting and becoming a mentor for some of these groups they would rather control things with money and their social status,
If you are truly interested in the arts you should know it is ever changing for every generation . Why not jump in and learn something new yourself and help those popular new folks rather than bad mouth them just because they are popular and you are no longer popular.
YOU KNOW HOW TO RAISE THE MONEY AND HAVE THE CONNECTIONS AND THEY HAVE THE TALENT AND FRESH NEW IDEAS THAT APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE. THEY WOULD MOST LIKELY PUT YOUR NAME UP IN LIGHTS. Try helping someone other than yourself and really leave your mark on the art community.

Freesilver, what do you mean by your comment?

I think a lot of Richmond institutions have leaky roofs. All the recent rain proved it. Thank goodness, every place with a leaky roof doesn't get shut down for code violations. If they did, there would be a lot of lost business and even more unemployment.

Stop all the boo-hoo.Guy who was not smpathetic.
Funny that was all I heard Center stage say. Poor Richmond symphony they have no place to perform. If you would check the records the Lowes Theatre was first purchased years ago to do just that. They didn't like the sound system so off to the Landmark. didn't like that sound system either so they had to go out and spend even more bucks to buy them something extra to help that problem out.
They have more funding than any other organization in the city. Just think for a minute why they would rather go back to the new CS. Landmark seats around 3500 and the Carpenter Center 1700. Quess they couldn't afford to stay in a space they couldn't fill since they can't even pack the new space. At least with the smaller space it makes it look like more people are interested in attending.
They have seven different subscription packages and have 2500 people that take part in this. Counting only those on their web site, as of today, 27 are left for this season at the Carepenter. If they sell out thats 46,664 people that will attend(many of which are the same people) I'm sure they count those companies that get 100 free tickets for donating a certain amount.
The othe two groups that will be in the Gottward Playhouse that seats 200 people have 32 and 40 times they will be in that space. If they sell out that will be another 14,880 people..
I have read a great deal of articles on both of these groups and they have a great deal of trouble getting people to attend much less sell out.
Why be upset with Mr. Boo-hoo? Why didn't they go someplace else that they could afford so the people of the city of 200,100 don't have to have money taken away from public projects that need attention now. 25 million and 500,000 a year could have helped the people a great deal.
They are hoping it is going to bring more business downtown. The last I read they haven't gotten that far. Let's leave it to a city, that wasted money on 6th street, to pay for yet another plan to see what they have to do.
Is there a Gallery out there that would like to have a showing of all the master plans the city has wasted money on ? You could most likely have enough to fix up the schools.
What does this have to do with a leaky roof? I think the leaky roof a t Gallery 5 is just an example of the many art groups that are hurting and going to be hurt in the coming years if all the corp.,foundations, etc. decide that they only want to support CS. They have already told many organizations in the arts not to bother applying because they are leaving it up to CS. Maybe they seem willing to help but only if it benifits them in some way.
It's not just galleries but dance groups ,music groups, film, writers,spoken word ,other theatre groups. They don't just do it one night a month on First Friday. They are giving more ,than just three main groups , a place to share their talent. Seems First Friday Art Walk, without much money,. .. draws more people in one year than CS.
I f you didn't have much money I could see feeding a few but with so much money in a project with no track record and a city with a poor track why didn't you focus on feeding more grassroots groups that really are doing for the community in a way you will never do?
Cocktail parties, who's who, bored with nothing to do,power, recognition or just to prove a point? City Council was easy feed them, invite them, put them on a board, make them feel important, and let them cont. to think they know what they are doing.
Sounds like they read the same book of rules our Federal Gov. has been reading. We have the power, we have the money and it doesn't matter what the people have to say. Let them pay for it and we will keep on spending what we want to spend.

I don't know Amanda Robinson or what she ever did (or didn't do). From what I've read on this thread, I must say I admire her grit and gutsy desire to make this town a friendlier place for artists. I honestly don't get why some people have weighed in with anonymous attacks on her. Are y'all ex-husbands or dumped boyfriends? She deserves our help, not all this nonsense. One suggestion re: roof ~ surely there is some home-owners/business-owners insurance on the building. Did the rain damage the roof or was that a pre-existing condition?

"Wednesday, November 18, 2009 6:53:08 PM by Anonymous
how is this news? the roof leaks where I work maybe Style could write an article about us! and you have to jiggle the toilet handle too could that get us a cover story?"

Umm... this isn't a cover story, it is not even in the printed style. It is just a piece they did online. And, why write an article on it? Because..... Gallery 5 is in a National Historic Landmark. After the city spends millions on private owned property like Centerstage and the Hippodrome, a local historic landmark that has actually brought people into the area receives no funding. The city keeps telling us that they have no money to support the majority of concerns within our community, but they invest in 2 performance venues that are privately owned????

Perhaps a place like gallery 5 that opens their doors for other organization's fundraisers, benefits and missions, deserves a little recognition and support? Their people are still working for free while our community benefits from their hard work.

You naysayers are absolutely pathetic.

Yeah, just sell that building and make more CONDOS-thats a f*%$ing great idea.

Jealous and short sighted... all that ugliness,

You know what... Folks like Amanda and her father, and all the rest of the galleries are responsible for settling the downtown area. Artist do it for the personal reward first, and the economic return second.Might be a dumb plan, but that seems to be the only thing that has really worked on this deliberately neglected strip of downtown. Have we received any money from the city? parking? But yet after all that they haven't done WE persist.


Anyone who refers to Tom Robinson as a Rich developer might want to think again. It takes time to be a great success by any standard, and if Tom owns a vast amount of real estate-GOOD FOR HIM! He also owns the debt to the banks, maintains the grounds, owns the TAXES and all the headache he goes through to make everything line up. If you have ever owned property , judging by your comments you haven't , it is no cake walk. Investors gamble all day long buying property in areas they see as a future investment-not usually a turn key situation. in Tom's case, anyone who has ever talked to him knows that he is motivated by much more than money...Gallery 5 was in the DMZ, on the the pulse of the ghetto, taxable value increases, and so do the repairs. Pretty soon all these things snowball into what can be a wild animal. Your investment (that was a great deal at the time) has turned into a great liability financially. Somehow investors have to keep all the balls in the air. Tom is no different. He has an amazing daughter who knows how to surround herself with smart and motivated individuals who also share the same vision.

Who am I ? Just another director of another gallery providing a service to my community. I can't keep myself from commenting on some of the nonsense I have read here today. I also own a my fair share of real estate, I know that even if i am listed as the owner , the bank, tax man, or the City of Richmond are all ready to make a meal of me and everything I own given I slip up and make a mistake.

Amanda and co.has been in that location making it a cultural hot spot for all the demanding public to enjoy...For christ's sake-open up your heart and your pocket and empty what you have and feel good to "be a part" of what she and many others are providing to stimulate our community.

I Think it is so sad that you have a young lady that has taken all this upon herself to follow her dreams and try to make richmond a more cultured place. But of course you still have some ignorant people that say things like a rich father or you are so popular you can pay to fix the roof yourself..That shows why our comunity and our country is in the shape that its in. People just shooting off there mouth and not even knowing the history and the positive things that are being done. Its so sad. Keep going Amanda do what you love. Life will always be a up hill climb but you will make it!!!There will always be people that say things that are hurtful and just plain stupid!Thats why they are called no it all's.............Keep up the hard work that you do it cant be easy.

If you would like to learn more about our historic landmark and roof situation, Channel 8 is doing a featured story on tonight's 11PM news.
Thanks guys.

Wow, what a great read. Thank you for the background information Amanda. I've always enjoyed First Fridays and Almost made it to the Gallery of Five Fires before it sold out.

Keep up the Great Work !

Bobb

What a depressing petri dish of Richmond Syndrome we get in these comments.

Somebody tries something: it must be suspect. Somebody speaks out: they've got an agenda. They fail: Deserved it. Succeed: Must be rigged. Only my version of truth and glory is righteous and I have the franchise on justice and virtue.

A pretty fair copy of the sewing circle MO of post-reconstruction Richmond.

How about this: If angry learned helplessness is your thing, you have at it and enjoy your stewing in neurosis and pessimism. But if you must offer critique, fact check your own ass first before you embarrass yourself and distract others trying to actually do things. And have some balls and own your words with your real name.

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shared air - a community blog open to anyone interested in making Richmond a more fulfilling place.

P.S.
For those of you that are asking. Gallery5 is currently in the process of taking over the ownership of the building. The building had been donated once by my father, but he had to buy it back to keep the former crack-pot director from selling it. He has covered a great deal of debt before Gallery5 established a track record to be able to take over ownership. Gallery5 has been responsible for paying ALL debts, mortgage payments, taxes, etc. That is why we are always hurting. Our overhead is insane and most of our money raised had been going back into paying off these debts. Gallery5 was started as a fundraiser to save the building. We have since established our own identity and non profit. He hasn't made a dime, he has only lost a great deal of money from this. That is sacrificial giving!

Chris,
Thank you for taking the time to put together this article and Scott Burger, thank you for your support. I also understand the need to focus on larger problems like our area schools, and have no interest in taking money from the important issues at hand. The National Historic Landmark that we inhabit has asked for money from our city for 30 years, before our area schools were in such a crucial position, and yet we still never received a penny of support.

To get a few things straight. Why was Gallery5 started?
Perhaps a few people get confused about what we do because the word "gallery" is in the name of the organization, but please do some investigation on our past and current mission to understand our organization before you make accusations, especially before you bad mouth or label my father as a "rich developer"....that is the furthest from the truth. My father rarely, if ever, makes money off of his projects that help revitalize the downtown and manchester communities. He is doing it, because no one else will. He is doing it because private developers only seem to care about getting rich quick and do not think about the affect that they have on our communities. Rich? He bought it because the city had no interest in preserving its history and was trying to sell it to private developers. He invested over 35 years of his life to save the history of that building and the legacy of his father, his grandfather and uncles who fought fires in our city and served as the fire chiefs in the building.

Born and raised on that corner of 200 West Marshall, I have seen and experienced first hand the struggles and passions of the Jackson Ward community and Richmond artists. Unfortunately, because of obsessive bickering between our reps, the lack of support and encouragement for the artistic communities, and the slow in progressing art scene, I never had interest to come back to Richmond.
I had a personal disinterest in the idea of art galleries and never had a dream of owning or operating one. I spent my entire life in that building, teaching fire safety classes and watching my parents slave away for over 30 years trying to strengthen the Jackson Ward community, encourage and support the inner-city youth through thoughtful nationally awarded programs and all the time, trying to preserve the National Historic Landmark.
The story goes on.... and if you picked up a paper about 8 years ago, then you would probably remember some of the unfortunate situations of the landmark's former non-profit and mischievous director. If not, just shoot me an email. gallery5@gallery5arts.org

Now....it is time for me to come home. This building was 5 minutes from being sold and turned into another private developers' wet dream and the history lost. My parents struggled for too long to preserve this history and I was not going to let it slip away because of another condo, a private residence, or even worse, a parking lot for the growing residential area.

Start an art gallery, start a performing arts center, start a studio space? I had to do something immediate and drastic to bring in enough fast money to pay over a quarter million dollars worth of debt and destruction the former director embezzled, collected and caused. I had no interest in coming back to Richmond, now I tell my dad I am coming home because I have this idea of how to bring some money in the building. All I knew was art. I did not get my degree in business management, gallery operations, non-profit development, grant-writing, coordinating.. and those are things that I have had to learn from scratch and trial and error throughout the past 5 years. But, I came home, and spent 6 months living in the building to clean, paint, prime, calk, drywall, roof, floor, the list goes on. The former director let the sprinkler system go off a year before I arrived, the roof had almost been destroyed at that time, the ceiling had caved in in multiple areas, the floors were destroyed and so much had to be done to make it habitable and presentable to an audience. With the help of Richmond and Henrico County's Community Service program, we had guys that came in every Saturday and Sunday morning at 8AM for those 6 months to help us get the place in order.

In order for what? I met the guys from RVA Magazine, and with the help of RVA Parker, we recruited over 40 artists and performers and set the date of April 15th, 2005 to have our Grand Opening and RVA Mag's Kick-off Magazine launch party on the same night. There were over 1,000 people in attendance. We knew we had something there and decided to join the First Friday Art Walk, where we have since then drawn some of the largest crowds to the downtown area that Richmond has seen in many years.

So, are we just an art gallery? No.
Gallery5 has been a catalyst for not only bringing innovative arts to downtown Richmond, but has become a voice for under served populations, diversities and organizations in our community. Constantly throughout the year, we hold collaborative fund-raising for dozens of area non profits, hosting benefit events for local causes, revitalizing the Jackson Ward area through festivals and other outdoor activities, and providing an arts center that is accessible to all demographics of our community regardless of race and socioeconomic level. We
strive to showcase art that is interactive and that allows our community members to be apart of the process and experience. Many of our exhibitions focus on the concept of utilizing art and audience engagement to make positive social, economic and environmental change. This focus has caused our community to spread that message and make change in their surrounding communities and within their own businesses and organizations.

My specific passion is arts education, and within the past 5 years, Gallery5 has developed 2 programs for our area youth, elderly and mentally disabled. We are working on raising funds to pursue these programs and enact them in our communities.

Believe me, I often feel that we have problems much larger than I can handle. Yet, I thought those before and we have prevailed. Yet, you are right.....art is not going to make use the money. The visual and performing arts that we showcase cannot buy us a new roof. It will take private and public support through donations and grants. So, thank you Chris for getting the word out.

Last but not least, Just announced! Out of 82 nominations in the Virginians for the Arts 2010 "Arts Builds Communities" awards Rising Star category, Gallery5 was one of the top 5 finalists!!!

Gallery5 will receive recognition at the ArtWorks Conference on January 27th.

The purpose of the Arts Build Communities Awards for 2010 is to recognize two arts organizations that best demonstrate the ability to enhance the community, lift our spirits, and build a better quality of life. An award will be made to an established organization "the Shining Star Award" and an award will be made to an organization emerging as a “Rising Star.” The awards present a wonderful opportunity to spotlight the ways the arts contribute to the overall quality of life in Virginia communities.

The Shining Star Award will be made to an organization that has an extraordinary impact on the community, successfully develops community partnerships and business, legislative, and local community support contributes to K-12 education and that has stood the “test of time.” The Rising Star Award will be made to an organization that meets all criteria for the Shining Star Award but that is not as well established.

Thank all of you who were kind enough to take the time to nominate Gallery5.
Even though we did not win in the category, it is truly an honor to be recognized as a finalist by members of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Virginians for the Arts and numerous judges from other organizations and corporations across the state.

Hopefully, through these awards, our city, state and national government leaders will understand the important contributions that the arts make in our communities and prove their understanding through the much needed financial support of our state arts foundations and non-profits.

"Anonymous" @ 9:03:36 AM

You write: "Tom a rich developer? "Not sympathetic", learn something about people and gallery5's history before you open your damn mouth."

You sound angry. Could you please explain why? And, could you pls. tell us who OWNS the building?

Tom a rich developer? "Not sympathetic", learn something about people and gallery5's history before you open your damn mouth.

Amanda, I have enjoyed a couple of recent events at Gallery 5. I sincerely wish you the best with the roof situation, and I will try to spare a few more bucks for the collection.

On the other hand, I know you understand that I still regard fixing public schools as a bigger public taxpayer priority. I am not trying to be snide when I say maybe you should ask the Hippodrone developers for a donation since City Council is giving them $600,000 in public taxpayer dollars. We know Center Stage won't give up any of their $500,000 annual public taxpayer investment

Sounds like a great deal of jealous gallery folk in Richmond as always. Add this to your list.
Virginians for the Arts 2010 "Arts Builds Community " awards just ed Gallery 5 as one of the top 5 nominations out of 82 across Virginia for the Rising Star award. Were you nominated?
She is doing a great deal for the community at age 27. If foundations would start to recognize people for what they really do and not just for the social club art galleries maybe some of the grass root galleries wouldn't have to struggle so much.
Like the last statement "Art galleries aren't money Makers' they depend on grants and donations. They also have to have a track record and be around for a few years to prove their worth before they can even apply. quess where most of the money has gone this year in the art community CS. From the articles I have read they have the money but are having to give away tickets. Go figure.
Give the kid and all those young people, that are really making a change some credit. The rest of you were there at one time. The only difference they are young and fresh to the art scene. Are you so old you can't remember or just born with a silver spoon in your mouth.

"After intense rain, damaged roof puts popular art gallery in financial jeopardy."

if they were that popular, they should be able to afford to fix their roof.

Sell art for $$$ $$$ for roof

how is this news? the roof leaks where I work maybe Style could write an article about us! and you have to jiggle the toilet handle too could that get us a cover story?

Some questions come to mind... Isn't Robinson's dad a rich developer? How did G5 buy the building in the first place? Why move into an old building if you can't afford to maintain it?

Art galleries aren't money makers. Stop all the boo-hoo, sell the building to someone that will be able to afford the space and open somewhere else.