We were lucky to catch up with Angela Ligon recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Angela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I always thought myself to be very creative and artistic…so much so that I decorated my space with my artwork and murals and I painted (primarily on canvas) nearly every evening as my children and I were watching television together.

I had always worked in Corporate America throughout my 25 year+ professional career. I worked in a few industries and disciplines, but I was most successful in roles of Sales and/or Operations. But, despite my success, I wasn’t happy. I held these positions as a means of a living; none of these jobs and roles throughout my career were never truly personally fulfilling.
I, like so many others, had been told so many times throughout my life that the way to find true success was to “follow your passion” and to do the things that ‘you’ love.

I became a believer of this once I was blessed with the opportunity to work in an art gallery. It was as if I’d had my first taste of blood. It became very clear to me that my place in the professional world was in Art Sales and Support.
Thus, I began daydreaming… plotting and planning what I would love to do and how I would go about doing it, once the opportunity presented itself.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I literally formulated a business plan in my head for years after first having lost my job of 3 years as a Sales Support Representative at an Art Gallery. I would strategize and contemplate the types of art I would most love to sell and which artists I would represent. I would think about the floor plan of my dream art gallery. I developed and planned what would become the core values and mission statements of my future gallery.

My mission is to give back to and to inspire others. (Acts of Service is one of my main love languages, after all.)

While I may not be the best artist, my artwork is certainly not my favorite, nor am I an academically trained artist, I am so satisfied with being able to provide a platform so that artists that I do admire may have proper representation and visibility. Their primary focus may then be to create so that they may then continue to inspire others as well.

The connecting of collectors and art lovers with artists who inspire them is quite a beautiful experience.

It is also pleasing to me that I am able to inspire the spaces of so many who fall in love with the artists’ works.
What’s reallllly satisfying is when I am able to witness the impact that original artwork has on a person’s life who’s never before lived with or designed their space with original artwork before… there’s a certain coming to life that occurs. The transference of feeling, thought and emotion from one human to another becomes evident.

So, it’s sort of a full circle of satisfied, inspired and happy people AND SPACES.
What better way to give back to others than to ensure the space in which they live brings them joy?

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Ohhh the story of resilience that so many business owners share to date.

COVID has had its toll on the performance of my business. Oddly, it’s also helped to keep me determined to keep fighting for my mission… to inspire others.
You see, through the experience that we have all had during this global and devastating pandemic, I’ve learned the vital impact that art has on the psyche of humans. Not to mention the importance of human-to-human connectivity and inspiration. There’s no greater means of expressing feeling and thought than through the visual arts. It is a transference of vulnerability and strength from the artist to the viewer. Art represents the intricacies of the human heart and soul. The heart of the artist is literally poured, adhered and moved on the canvas.. the chisel literally shapes and forms the stone into a sculpture.. the vision and passion of the artist is absorbed into the medium. The artist is relieved by the outpouring of emotion and the viewer is touched by the end result, the finished product.

There has never been a more important time for this human-to-human connectivity and inspiration than the last 3 years as COVID has reigned down on humanity.

Despite business closures, quarantines and financial difficulties that nearly destroyed my business, I showed up to my gallery every single day. I continued to rotate my exhibit. The cool part is that my gallery storefront was surrounded in windows and, therefore, the exhibit visible from the street. So as to inspire people who were out for a walk and fresh air, or driving to simply get out of the house. I also continued to share pieces on my IG and FB platforms in an effort to continue to FIGHT for what I believe in… simply because people neeeeeeeeded to be inspired. We ALL did, and we still do!

It hasn’t been an easy task at all, but I am proud to say that I made it through the thick of it all and I did it alone. I did so because if it was the last thing I did, I was going to go down fighting for what I feel is my purpose in life.. that is to give back and to inspire others.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

My original business concept was for Ligon Fine Art to be a typical upscale art gallery, representing local artists, with 25 ft ceilings and spectacular acoustics, (this allowed me to hire local musicians to perform in the gallery during events), housed in a superb downtown district,

COVID has forced me to realign my business plan so that I’ve now moved into a much more affordable location where I collaborate with a staging company, iStage Homes.
The beauty of the collaboration is that I now have a space with a typical art gallery and a collaborative design center between Ligon Fine Art and iStage Homes, as well. This has proven to be a beneficial transition, as we now have staged vignettes wherein people who may have difficulty envisioning the artwork may now see the artwork on a wall space above a piece of furniture. The furniture may be a couch and coffee table or a bed and armoire.

The good news is that two businesses have been saved from the destructive hands of the pandemic… the artists still have a platform to show their work and we continue to be able to inspire the spaces of others!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.ligonfineart.com
• Instagram: ligonfineart
• Facebook: Ligon Fine Art
• Linkedin: Angela Ligon
• Yelp: Ligon Fine Art

Image Credits
Don Agnello