We recently connected with Robert Gann and have shared our conversation below.

Robert, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

Habitat Contemporary Gallery’s mission statement is to create an environment where culture, art, and community connect.

Our continued vision that has helped to get us there is to showcase exceptional talent across career levels, ensure that the organization has multiple focuses from visual to performance art, and that art is accessible to beginning and established collectors.

The gallery has a reputation of placing a high focus on mid-career artists, who are collected and exhibited by museums, recipients of Guggenheim Grants, Pollock Krasner Grants and Warhol grants, and are internationally shown to name a few laurels of their achievements. Additionally, Habitat Contemporary Gallery features artists crossing spectrums, from the critically acclaimed to the modern vanguard in the arts. Many of the artists find placement in eminent collections, by well-known art connoisseurs.

Arts are limitless in their potential to connect communities. With this in mind Habitat Contemporary Gallery offers performance art residencies. This unique programming incorporates public musical concert series, while helping our performance art residents to reach a wider audience. I also offer other cultural avenues, such as book launch parties.

Habitat Contemporary Gallery believes art is in the reach of any arts enthusiasts. This is a philosophy we practice by ensuring arts are priced across ranges to appeal to the beginning collector to the more established collector. If a large painting is out of financial reach for the beginning collector, then one of a kind or limited-edition prints are often for purchase. We also utilize the financial services of Art Money to allow installation payments. This plan is simple, if a buyer’s art spending budget may be stretched too far with a single purchase, it allows for a manageable payment plan to break down the purchase over nine months, tax free.

Robert, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my own business on November 2020. This was the end result of completing my education and years of related art professions. I held a variety of art centric jobs, from working at a non-profit organization to help mid-career artists, art archival work, and freelance curation jobs. Seeking to combine my passion, talent and education it was time to embark on my own gallery, thus Habitat Contemporary Gallery came into being.

I have over a period of time been fortunate enough to grow within the last few years. The first growth spurt happened with opening a secondary gallery and then in the next year venturing abroad participating in international art fairs. The last art fair was in Paris at the Carrousel du Louvre. This is a badge of pride for me, as some galleries within their infancy do not experience this amount of growth. I weigh the risks and take the gamble, if the stakes are not too high then I will take the venture full on. This has made my gallery sought after by artists and collectors alike.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

With any business you will have your ups and downs. I had an unfortunate event happen at an Art Fair in San Francisco with the courier I hired to ship art. Not to go into any specifics it was a debacle. I had relied on a marketed reputation for fine art handling which was not warranted. The next art fair I participated in, I ensured to be more hands on with shipping, versus relying on an outside company. Needless to say, the art arrived on time and safely.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Previously I had relied on one avenue for audiences to connect with the arts, just by exhibitions in my galleries. I have found though that collectors appreciate getting to know the artists in their own environment. This led me to adjust my business practice to also include some artist agent work, where I coordinate studio visits with contracted artist’s, bringing their audience to them versus the gallery.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://habitatcontemporary.com/
• Instagram: @habitat_artkc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/habitatcontemporary
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-gann-8499928

Image Credits
Fred Trease and Robert Gann