Artist-at-Large
I love living in the Triangle. The artistic community here
is small, but supportive. Artists chat with each other over glasses of wine or
via the Internet about anything and everything. When there is any new news, it
spreads like wildfire. But it still came as a surprise to me when I received
two e-mails and a phone call on the same day announcing that Joe Rowand’s
Somerhill Gallery (www.somerhill.com), a Chapel Hill institution for 18 years,
was being booted out of Eastgate Mall unceremoniously with only a matter of
days to move to new digs.
What on earth was he going to do with all his stuff? Glass,
sculpture, paintings, jewelry, drawings, Christmas ornaments, you name it — all
of it had to be packed up and carted off. When I called a friend to inform her
of the news, I was already too late. I was told it had been the talk of a
recent party in Hillsborough the night before. I was crestfallen. I had missed
out on breaking news, the chanticleer had sounded and I was nowhere near to
hear the song. NOW I know why all my friends have Blackberries and are
constantly text messaging each other day and night — so that they can stay
within seconds of artistic alerts.
 But what next? People paced back and forth and pondered,
soothsayers were brought forth, divining rods were held aloft and sheep
entrails were examined for signs of the future. Where would Rowand find refuge?
Chapel Hill is filled to the brim with shops and restaurants and very few
spaces stay empty long. Raleigh is a harrowing ride down Interstate 40.
Hillsborough is Rowand’s home, but it just seems too bucolic and laid back for
large commercial gallery projects. Just as anxious artists and collectors were
at the point of collapse, the mistral swept in with the long-awaited news.
Somerhill Gallery is moving to Durham. ...
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