Today we’d like to introduce you to George Irwin.
Hi George, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
In October 2017, I found myself wanting to take an intentional approach to what I was looking at on Instagram right around the same time as I was wanting to define my voice as an artist. The idea came to me that by collecting and posting images of artwork that I like; I might be able to work on both of those things. Most of my artwork to date was of the Western landscape, so almost on a whim, I registered the handle @westerngallery, and started posting paintings that I liked.
What happened next was a surprise. I started to connect with other folks who appreciated the same works. Kind of obvious, really, that that would happen, but I think maybe it happened faster than I expected. Every time I posted a painting I liked, new people would follow the westerngallery account, and we’d comment back and forth about the work, artists, etc. Before I knew it, I was part of a larger community of artists and art appreciators.
As the WG Instagram audience grew, I started thinking about ways that I could serve it, and starting a podcast seemed straightforward enough, so Horizons by Western Gallery (Apple Podcasts | Spotify) was born, sort of acknowledging WG as a brand. Then, as I got to know some artists and others in the industry a little better, I started to think about hosting an exhibition, and my mind exploded with ideas, along with the realization that I had a weird set of skills that would be perfect to start an online art gallery.
So, in January of 2020, I incorporated Western Gallery as a business. The first show, New Western Talent, took place during the height of the pandemic’s self-isolation period, which forced the art world online. Perhaps this is what made the show a success, but the quality of the work showcased was, IMO, the real star. It was such a rush to introduce to the world so many wonderful artists that I’d either gotten to know through my time on Instagram or that were discovered only through their application to the show!
The general success of NWT was motivation to host another show, and so on. Texas Women and Taos Today were likewise both successful in their own ways, and that wrapped my first year as a “real” art gallery. At this point, I started to think that WG could be grown into a viable business, and started to plan more seriously.
In 2021, WG grew in a real way. We hosted a full program of four featured shows: In Rainbows, New Western Talent 2021 (our annual cornerstone group show), The Colour and the Shape, featuring Luke Anderson and Taylor Crisp (our first duo show), and most recently, Studies + Sketches (up through January 10th). In May of 2021, WG began introducing a roster of represented artists as the Impermanent Collection. The Impermanent Collection’s debut featured seven major works by Whitney Gardner and quickly sold out. Bodies of work by Alice Leese, Carson Bilger, GL Richardson, and Scout Dunbar followed, with many pieces finding their ways into new, established, and significant private collections. Now in early 2022, Western Gallery represents fifteen artists from across the Western United States on an ongoing basis to a growing list of art lovers across the globe.
This year’s program will build on our successes to date as well as venturing into new territory. New Western Talent is back for its third year. We’ll be expanding more into the real world with our first-ever in-person exhibition this fall, and more in-person studio visits and interviews. And conversely, we’ll be leaning a bit more into our digital roots, ushering both artists and collectors into the NFT space, with our first drop a collaboration with Austin Artist, Christy Stallop, slated April 5, 2022.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting out in January of 2020, one of the biggest obstacles was that the art world as a whole hadn’t moved online yet. That changed rapidly once the pandemic hit, though. Now collectors and even casual art appreciators are becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of buying a piece of physical art online.
On the other side of that coin, I ask my artists to take a lot of photos and shoot a lot of video, and there is often a bit of a learning curve. But we persist and even from a distance (many of our artists aren’t local to DFW) we’re able to work together to get the media I need to show their work online. While this is frequently a challenge, I feel it’s worth the effort on both sides because would-be collectors have enough photos and video to make a decision, and the artists have gained a skillset they can use in their own practice and promotion.
We’ve been impressed with Western Gallery, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Western Gallery curates distinct perspectives of the American West, from abstract to photorealistic and classic to contemporary. Our mission is to serve fine artists and art lovers while connecting viewers to the land, cultures, and heritage of western North America.
Western Gallery operates 100% online—we have no physical location. We’re known for our curation and service. Clients and friends often tell me they’ve never seen the work we’re presenting, and that they love both this work that’s new to them and the gallery as a whole. Those comments are always nice to hear.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This question is so big! My family used to go on road trips throughout the West in the summers. We’d pile in our Astro mini-van and hit the road, often not knowing our exact route. We’d end up staying the night in some random motel in the mountains or desert, but for a Texas kid, experiencing the cool air of the Rockies in the summer and seeing the mountains and fir trees stirred my soul.
And on the other end of the man vs. nature spectrum, I spent many afternoons and evenings hacking my way around the family PC, discovering the internet as it was just becoming something within reach for middle-class families. This kind of curiosity, while costly as a kid (I don’t know how many times I broke the computer), has served me well in figuring out how to build and operate an online art gallery.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@western.gallery
- Website: https://western.gallery/
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/westerngallery
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/westerngalleryusa
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/georgeirwin
Image Credits
Western Gallery
