Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jonathan Slingluff. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Jonathan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

The gallery is named after my grandmother 👵

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

The gallery started in 2008. The fact that it ever started or happened was by chance. At the time, I was working at a small independent coffee shop. As some of you may, or may not know, small business is hard business. The owner of the shop had some hard times and was unable to pay me for a few weeks, I was evicted. After living in the coffee shop with my cat at the time, I was able to find a place that I was able to afford. The hitch was that it was a C2 building and I had to create a business. Having a long background in the arts, I decided on an art gallery. What started as a place to showcase the work of my friends and myself quickly turned into something larger.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

I met Leigh Alison on MySpace (yes I am that age). We dated for a short time and married. We lived behind that gallery. We are divorced now, but I still call her my bestie.

Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?

I remember in the 2009 holiday season I watched a doc about LL Bean. His story and his way of life, so powerful. Anyway he talked a lot about treating everyone the same, which I feel that I always have, but that doc changed how I acted towards myself (if that makes sense). Anyway, I was sitting in the gallery on Christmas eve and this man walked in. I thought he was living on the streets, to be honest. We hit it off and talked for hours! He asked if he bought something, when he would be able to take the work. After that he reached into a pocket and pulled out a crazy amount of money. He bought that work he loved and walked out the door. He would return here and there and I always loved seeing and talking to him.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Dapperfineart.com
• Instagram: Dapper Fine Art
• Twitter: Dapper Fine Art
• Other: If you find yourself in Philadelphia, stop in and say hello 👋