We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Barbara Gerdeman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Barbara below.
Barbara, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?
Creative Liberties was an idea that was born in the broom closet sized office my friend (and now business partner) Elizabeth Goodwill and I shared for many years at the Art Center Sarasota. It was a relationship that was either destined to fail or succeed. Happily for us, it was a success story, and we became great friends. In between doing our day-to-day work, we also had many discussions about possible businesses we could create together. We knew we worked together well and envisioned that someday we could have a creative business of our own.
The name “Creative Liberties” came first, long before we had any idea of what it would be. It had many incarnations – furniture refinishing, selling our own art, offering classes…until one day the proverbial lightbulb went off. As long-time employees of a community art center, we had many interactions with local artists of all ages, backgrounds, mediums and career points. Many of them had questions. Questions about how to sell their art; where and how to enter their work in shows; how to market themselves and more. This was it. We could provide services to artists that would answer these questions and provide the assistance they were searching for.
Creative Liberties officially became an LLC in May of 2021 and we launched our business while renting art studios in the Rosemary District. These studio rentals were a temporary situation and after being there for 5 months it was looking like our time there would be coming to a close. At this point we are both still working at the Art Center. Enter Howard Davis, a member of the Board of Directors of Art Center Sarasota, who came into our office and inquired about how it was going with our studio spaces. Here’s where things get serendipitous. After telling him that we think we are going to lose our space, he informs us that he has a half of a building coming available in the middle of October. Howard is a huge supporter of the arts and artists in Sarasota and an all-round good human. We went to look at the space, discussed terms and it’s a done deal. It all happened very quickly and with little hesitation. Keep in mind that opening a studio space for artists was in no way part of our initial plan, but we couldn’t say no. No risk, no reward.
There were other artists at the space in the Rosemary District that jumped on board with us and on November 1, 2021 we opened Creative Liberties Artist Studios with a total of 9 working artists. They were and are all active participants in the day-to-day successes and long-term goals of this space that we all call our art home. As an LLC, we carry the long-term lease with Howard and allow our artists to carry month-to-month rental agreements to give them flexibility. We keep the rental rates as low as possible. Our motto is “artists helping artists” and we strive to offer an inclusive, supportive environment to all artists who seek it. Our studio spaces are not enclosed, creating a communal environment that our artists all enjoy. We are pleased to announce that we have secured additional space that will allow us to offer 12 more artist studio rental spaces and a large classroom space. We hope to have the new space up and running before the end of the year. Giving the public an opportunity to meet the artists and get a peek into the artistic process is a formula that seems to work and benefits all parties involved.
After opening we discovered that we had wall spaces on the backsides of the studios and decided it was the perfect opportunity to create rental display space for other local artists. This is when we added “and Gallery” to the name of our business. We currently have 9 rental display walls ranging in size from 4×8 to 9×8. We hang the work, create tags and artist info sheets, provide promotion and handle sales. For this service there is a small rental fee and a commission on any work that is sold. The artists are invited to host a reception for themselves if they would like. For November and December, we will be dividing all the walls into 4×8 spaces and encouraging the artists to bring smaller, gift sized works. We currently have a waiting list for the November / December holiday period, but encourage artists to sign up to join that waiting list.
When asked about our experience thus far, our typical response is that “it’s been magical” and as cheesy as that sounds, it’s absolutely true. We are grateful to be doing something we love, with people we consider family – a family that grows everyday!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I have been an artist all my life. It was my number one interest in high school. My degree is in Advertising Design and is about as valuable to me as the paper it is printed on. After completing college, I worked in the field for about 1-1/2 years until I couldn’t take it anymore. I worked in a small cubicle doing hand done paste up and layout for catalogs, mailers and the like. I was bored to tears and not challenged creativity at all. I had made a pretty good living bartending throughout school, so I went back to that and started picking up freelance art jobs. I had many unique opportunities throughout my freelance career including painting a logo on the tail of a small airplane, painting names on the backs of boats and painting designs on souvenir seashells. It was an amazing experience. While doing all this, I also began painting murals.
Fast forward to 1999 when I moved to Sarasota. I was hired by a small company that specialized in residential murals and faux finish painting. I didn’t know much about faux painting, but it came to me quite easily and I worked with this company for many years. I eventually left and went solo and continued to do that work on an ebb and flow basis until 2020. During that time, I had also began working at Art Center Sarasota. I started as Volunteer Coordinator, which I knew nothing about, but learned quickly and loved working with the people. I also started teaching Summer Art Camp, something I’m still currently doing. My art mentors meant the world to me during my life and having the opportunity to do that for other young artists is incredibly rewarding for me. I left the Art Center for a bit but was eventually hired by Elizabeth Goodwill to be Camp Coordinator. It was a perfect fit, and my job title eventually became Youth Program Coordinator. Elizabeth was Education Director, and we were (and are) a great team.
It has been quite a journey but looking back it’s easy to see a very clear path. Ups, downs and everything in-between all make it what it is today. All of these experiences have given me an education far more valuable than the one I got in college. My time bartending and waiting tables taught me how to deal with all types of people. My freelance career showed me that I can do anything I set my mind to (Paint a plane? Sure, I can paint a plane…hahaha) My time doing murals and faux finish painting gave me new skills artistically and business-wise. My time at the Art Center connected me to the local art community and to Elizabeth. And rest, as they say, is history!
How’d you meet your business partner?
I think my initial story encapsulates the tale of how Elizabeth and I met, but I can add to that story we first met as Summer Art Camp teachers at the Art Center Sarasota. Before we shared that tiny little office. We hit it off quite well, but if you told me then that 10+ years later we would be running a business together I probably would have laughed. Not because I would’ve thought that we would not be good business partners, but because the idea of a business like this was the furthest thing from my mind at the time. Stay open to possibilities – you just never know where life will take you!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
It’s not so much a story as it an attitude. Can I paint a plane? Yes. Can I run my own painting business? Yes. Can I do all this while being a single Mom? Yes. Can I be a Volunteer Coordinator with no previous experience? Yes. Can I start a business and get it up and running in a matter of weeks? Yes. I am a firm believer that our only imitations are the ones we impose on ourselves.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.creativeliberties.net
- Instagram: @creativelibertiesfl
- Facebook: Creative Liberties