We were lucky to catch up with Kim Crickard recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kim, appreciate you joining us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

I moved to Eldorado in 2015, and by 2020 was the President of the local Eldorado Arts and Crafts Association (EACA). It’s a non profit, volunteer organization that creates the Eldorado Studio Tour, Spring and Winter shows, and gives the many talented artists in this area the chance to show and sell their work. I was offered a unit in the Agora Shopping Center for a “pop-up show” in December of 2021. It went well even tho it was only open for a couple weeks. It was at that point that I decided that location would be perfect for an Artists’ Co-op. Eldorado NEEDED a venue for its terrific artists, and I thought that artists from outside our “borders” could also be included. As long as they could get there for a couple shifts a month, they were within a close enough distance to join us. We started Artistic License Gallery on Jan 1st of 2022.

Every time I began to panic that we might not have enough artists to pay the bills, more would come in and apply. We do a jury process, and once the artist is chosen to join the gallery, they pay a minimal rent, and a very low percentage of their sales to the gallery. Most galleries charge the artist 50 – 60% of their commission, but we only charge 20% which keeps our prices down….ie….happy artists/happy customers.

We have usually around 23 artists. Each does original art. We have paintings, sculptures, ceramics, knitted ponchos, photography, hand made hat bands on hats, woven rugs, scarves and placemats, a sewing genius who makes pot holders, shopping bags, totes, kitchen “boas”, etc., glass art, lots of greeting cards, incredible scratchboard paintings, pastels, pens made from cholla and wooden cutting boards, mixed media, and even a couple who does ingenious steam punk art!

We’re located at the courtyard at the Agora Shopping Center right in between Carmelita’s (terrific burgers etc!), and the Coffee Corral (great coffee & pastries!). We do events like Halloween (complete with a band), and when weather permits, we have various events in the courtyard like plein air artists, demonstrations, and classes.

For three years, this gallery and the artists in it have been a pleasure to work with. It’s been a risk I was willing to take, and fortunately, it has worked out very well. I’m very pleased that Eldorado has such a perfect venue for art! If you haven’t come in yet…do! I think you’ll be very happy with what you see!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

In most cases, careers build one upon another. For me, it has been a lot of twists and turns as nothing logically lead to the next thing. I wanted to teach the deaf when young and in college. I dropped out and became a masseuse. I got married and owned a beer and wine bar…a college hang out in San Diego, Ca.
I got a divorce, and became an apprentice electrician with IBEW Local 569. There were only two women in the Union when I got in. After working as an Electrician for 30 years, I retired. I’d always done drawings, and had started painting, but after awhile, decided to go back to school to improve my technique. I went to the local junior college and took EVERYTHING! It was a blast!

I’d been in San Diego for 46 years, and decided to move to Santa Fe as I had come here to help a dear friend find a house in Eldorado (just a few minutes from downtown Santa Fe. . I thought “why not?!” As it turns out, it gave me a chance to really concentrate on my art. I now have a 2-car garage sized studio in my home where I can work with lots of different mediums. I draw, I oil paint, I create copper sculptures. (I drill rocks and drop the sculptures in.) I decorate cow skulls, and make Dia de los Muertos Altars, and I paint the backs of denim jackets (and yes, you can wash them in cold water and dry them). I’ve made silver jewelry in the past using various techniques and have built ceramic sculptures, and done stained glass.

I’m extremely proud of my co-op gallery, Artistic License Gallery. I started it for the love of art. It was never something I did to create wealth, but was an opportunity to showcase other artists’ work as well as my own. We appreciate our loyal customers. Thank you!! It really has exceeded my expectations!

We have customers who come in and are absolutely dazzled with the art displayed and its quality. We have an email list that provides customers with photos of some of the art, ideas for gifts, and scheduling of events. Some of our customers come in and say “what’s new?”….as the gallery changes and stays fresh with new art and artists.

There is some amazing art in Santa Fe, but I’m proud to say, ours is competitive in quality and in price.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I was told a long time ago that I needed to be willing to be a bad artist to be a good one. I think that applies in a whole lot of different realms. You have to be willing to trust yourself, dive in, and go for it sometimes. Who else could you trust more than yourself?! No one as far as I’m concerned.

You shift gears when you need to. For example, I’ve been on difficult electrical jobs. You can hardly hand your customer a few candles and say you’ll finish the next day. Nope! You try Option A, B, C, D etc. until you get it done.

I think that thought process carried through to other parts of my life, so I can safely say, I’m pretty resilient.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Luckily, starting up Artistic License Gallery wasn’t a huge outlay of cash. I did subsidize the business, but was very fortunate to have Jessica Wesolek, who owned WOW Gallery for 30 years in downtown Santa Fe, help me with advice and tables that made us look very professional early on. I’m very grateful for her help, and continue to be.

I also had wonderful Managers from the start…Evie Gauthier, and Nan Patmont. Eventually Nan had to leave because she had too many obligations. Marlene Barnes was a Manager for awhile, and really helped us with advertising. (Thanks Marlene!). She eventually left, then Rob and Teresa Reese came on board as Managers. Their innovations and dedication to the gallery is so very much appreciated. Evie, in spite of also being the EACA President, has hung in there for the full 3 years. The landlord also gave us a break for the first 3 months (thank you Stephen Allison!) so we had a chance to increase the number of artists we had as well as sales.

Thanks to all of you I mentioned! I couldn’t have done it without you, and am still grateful for all your help!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ArtisticLicenseGallery.com
• Instagram: Artistic License Gallery
• Facebook: Artistic License Gallery
• Yelp: Artistic License Gallery

Image Credits

Kim Crickard
Shyama Helin
Jessica Wesolek
Linda MacPherson
Gina Hayes
Pi Luna
Evie Gauthier
Daniel Bethune
Julie Hill
Rob & Teresa Reese
Susan Kolb
Susan Burden
Gail MacQuesten
Burt Plotkin
Zana Burns
Barbara King
Carol Mullen
Sally Bartos
Roxanne Turner