Q: What exactly is McKinney Arts? It seems to be a lot of different things ... I'm confused.
A: McKinneyArts.com now is several things:
Q: When I go to the Gallery History, I see something called "Tredomus." What is that?
A: The very first version of the gallery - located at 157 1/2 Stanton Street on the Lower East Side - was named "Tredomus." Mark McKinney didn't want an eponymous gallery space at that time, so he labored over coming up with an abstract name for his exhibition space. The name "Tredomus" was a made-up name which was meant to reflect "Tre = three" and "domus = heads (as in "domes," a slang term)" in reference to three masks that hung at the entrance to the gallery. Needless now to say, this gallery name confused almost everyone and people often thought it was supposed to be "Tremendous," and therefore after one season of exhibitions, the name was changed to McKinney Arts for season two.
Q: Tredomus and McKinney Arts gallery spaces were active in the 1990s ... it's 2018 now. What happened in all those years in-between?
A: The gallery was making a small profit and moving ahead, but struggled to break through to be sustainable at a full-time basis. Mark McKinney got married, had two sons, and often said over the years that "breaking even wasn't going to pay for diapers." He learned web design, and launched his own business Four Story Design, which he continues to operate to this day. He also transferred his artistic energies to creating and developing Artsology, an online arts resource for teachers and kids, featuring arts-related games and arts-ed resources that are utilized by students around the world.
Q: I like some of the art in the Portfolio ... is it for sale?
A: Yes, the art is for sale. The e-commerce aspect of the site will be developed soon, but don't expect a one-click Amazon-like shopping cart ... packaging and shipping art gets complicated, depending on how big the piece is, and where it's going. Mark McKinney spent 10 years packaging and shipping art for Pace MacGill Gallery and Pace Editions, and knows from first-hand experience that shipping sold art often takes custom packaging. The hope is to receive inquiries about art works (prices will be posted soon), and engage with the potential customer to determine the most efficient and affordable way to ship the art. Or, if you're in New Jersey or New York, we can figure out a delivery or pick-up.
Q: Are the virtual exhibitions only going to be work by Mark McKinney, or will you show other artists?
A: Yes, I would definitely like to show other artists, and am reaching out to several whose work I love, and hope to convince them to let me design virtual exhibitions for them and offer their work for sale as well. At some point I may start looking at portfolios of other new artists, but in the meantime, I just want to get this site up and running.
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About McKinney Arts
McKinney Arts features paintings by artist Mark McKinney, affordable original art including paintings on canvas and works on paper. Private viewings of art by appointment or buy art online.