We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kayla Flamman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kayla below.

Hi Kayla, thanks for joining us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

When we first opened our doors in 2017, The Miller Gallery was a traditional brick-and-mortar gallery in the heart of downtown Charleston. Our first space was the perfect beginning and a wonderful way to connect with clients in our first years. As we grew and popped up at national art fairs, our reach became much larger than in Charleston and surrounding cities. To meet the demand and continue to connect with our clients near and far we started to build out a website that made purchasing original art more accessible. Once COVID hit in 2020, we saw the need for more online accessibility, as travel slowed and Charleston saw fewer visitors. This is when our online business truly took off! As time progressed, our online art gallery became a pillar of our business model. Clients could experience and shop original art online without the intimidation of a traditional gallery. In 2022, we decided to close our traditional gallery storefront and focus on our online and pop-up business. It was a risk, but a decision that best fit our business needs and allowed us to serve our clients in new and better ways. Today, we have a small gallery and headquarters in Charleston where we host events, pop-ups, and private appointments. Last year, we shipped art to 43 states and 7 countries. Our goal is to reach all 50 states next year!

Kayla, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hello, readers! I’m Kayla Twomey Flamman, the owner and curator of The Miller Gallery in Charleston, SC. I guess we’ll start at the beginning! I’ve always been a collector of things, whether it was rocks, stickers, or postcards when I was younger. Art played an important role throughout my life, and I always knew that it would be something I pursued. Whether that was as a hobbyist, collector, or supporter of the arts – it’s an integral part of who I am. My art gallery career started fresh out of college as a gallery associate, and I fell in love with it. Working with creatives I admired, curating shows, meeting collectors, helping install works, and collaborating with other industry leaders was a dream come true. A few years in, I moved to Charleston and began working at The Miller Gallery. Miller was different than any gallery I ever worked in . . . the art was bold, modern, and whimsical, and everyone who walked in could feel the vibrant energy. Seeing the joy in our client’s eyes while looking at a giant cupcake sculpture or a panoramic container ship made each day exciting and new. Flash forward a few more years, I had the opportunity to purchase the gallery. It’s been an honor to continue to drive this business forward and support artists both nationally and internationally.

Today, The Miller Gallery is a contemporary online and pop-up-focused gallery based in Charleston, SC, representing 35 American and international artists, 90% of which are female. We celebrate art by offering in-person private art viewings, as well as curating art experiences for all to enjoy. The Miller Gallery offers a variety of art services, including art advisory, art loan programs, and installation. Whether you shop online or attend one of our curated events, we want to make purchasing original art enjoyable and accessible.

How did you build your audience on social media?

We built our social media following in a variety of ways! From in-person visits, to art fairs, to fellow small businesses and creators, we are incredibly grateful to all of those following along. Being authentic is so important, and we try to take away the intimidation of buying fine art. A few things we do are sharing behind the scenes of running a gallery, looks into the artists’ studios, tips and tricks, art we love, and just keeping the conversation going with our collectors. Social media has paved the way for us to communicate digitally. It helps us engage with collectors who aren’t local to Charleston and show them what’s new and what services we offer. Our goal is to make original art accessible to all, and I think that starts with building relationships both in person and online.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

We value our collectors because they allow us to continue to do what we love and support living artists. Our goal is to always keep in touch with them and continue to build this wonderful relationship around art. We do this through social media, our weekly newsletter, our website, blog posts, in-person visits, and events. It’s important to stay in conversation with your collectors and show them your appreciation. For instance, our newsletter subscribers receive first looks at new works and access to special releases and deals. We make it a priority to show them extra love because they continue to follow along our journey every week. Another thing we include in every order or purchase is a good, old-fashioned handwritten note. There’s nothing more personal than a handwritten thank you. Especially when clients are not local and we’ve only interacted digitally, a handwritten note shows that we value them and connects us on a more personal level. We may be an online-focused gallery, but every order is packed by hand by one of our team members, and every email inquiry, every call, every social media like and response is from someone on our small team of three. We’re a small business that sells really special things, and we are incredibly grateful for our supporters.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://themillergallery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themillergallery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MillerGalleryCHS/

Image Credits
Kate Blohm