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CITY PA GES
ART VS. DIXIE
Spectrum Studio Galleries —
victim of the culture wars?
Visitors to Spectrum Studio Galleries, one
of the newest retail additions to the Five
Points area, were greeted not by proprietor
Valarie Taylor last week, but a sign on the
locked door that read. “Due to ongoing,
unresolved issues with landlord, Spectrum is
closed today ."
When Valarie Taylor opened Spectrum
last December, many saw it as an important
step forward for Athens’ visual arts commu
nity. as it promised to be one of a handful of
real gallery spaces in a town where artists’
work often hangs in coffee shops and restau
rants.
But after only a few short months of exis
tence. Spectrum is closed for good — even
though Taylor says she sold more than
$5,000 worth of art there.
In an open letter to supporters. Taylor
said the business is closing “due to harass
ment to undermine this business endeavor
by one of the four landlords," Warren
Blackmon.
Blackmon, a local businessman, is reno
vating another space in the building, located
at 1195 South Milledge Ave., for an as-yet-
undisclosed venture of his own. Taylor told
Flagpole Blackmon was in her gallery nearly
every day. though he had no business being
there. She says he threatened to terminate
the lease numerous times, and engaged in
noisy construction during an artist's recep
tion. despite the fact. Taylor says, that he
was given ample notice of the party. Taylor's
husband claims she was subjected twice to
“completely unprovoked intimidating verbal
abuse" from Blackmon, and says renovation
work on his place caused dust to regularly
seep through vents into the gallery. The
Taylors also allege that one of the gallery's
landlords must have entered their space
without notice, a violation of the lease.
Blackmon's only comment on the matter: “I
did not harass her in any way shape or
form."
But at least some of the problem seems
to stem from a disagreement over what con
stitutes good art. Taylor says that Blackmon
didn’t like some yard art she had displayed,
even though he had given her prior approval
to show it in the front of the building. So,
Taylor says. Blackmon dragged a chair with
a Georgia Bulldog insignia outside. “He'd say,
‘This is art,’" Taylor recalls.
Taylor received a letter, allegedly
speaking for all four of the building's lease
holders — David W. Dreesen, insurance
agent Jack Thornton. Blackmon and Keith
Kortemeier. The correspondence, dated Feb.
9 and signed by Dreesen. said that yard dis
plays “must be in good taste and in keeping
with the Five Point's (sic) community
imagine [sic].” Apparently, Blackmon didn't
care for the art, a series of metal bugs by
local artist Brian Smith.
The next day. Taylor says, the Bulldog
chair was back outside, this time accompa
nied by a Confederate flag. Taylor says the
flag “was the final straw for me.... The flag is
not an appropriate image for me. nor is it a
symbol that my artists or customers would
appreciate in front of my gallery, and I don’t
believe it is representative of a ‘Five Points
image.’ “
Though Biackmon will not comment.
David W. Dreesen says. “He put a chair out
on the yard that upset her... and apparently
he put a Confederate flag out at the same
time she put all of this nouveau-type art out.
[The art was] made out of different types of
machinery, and [it] looked pretty bad for
that area of town. Maybe some people liked
it — so be it. But Warren didn’t like it. and
the rest of us didn’t care for It."
Dreesen says there are two sides to the
story. His letter makes mention of garbage
bags Taylor left in front of the house and
other cleanliness issues (“The letter made
me out to be a pig." Taylor says. “Which is
totally not the case.) In Dreesen’s view,
Taylor and Blackmon simply tend to tick
each other off. “Valarie became very upset,
became extremely emotional at times," he
says. “And Warren probably got too emo
tional at times. Valarie said Warren was
harassing her. I didn't see it as that, but as
two people who weren’t getting along."
Jack Thornton says he knows very little
about the matter. “The only thing I know is
The heart’s Eye Qattery
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