Commentary: Column gives wrong, unfair depiction of Art Walk

I am writing in response to the recent opinion column about the First Thursdays Art Walk published Oct. 9 (Hansen: “Laguna ‘drunk walk’ blurs art.”)

I opened the Artists Republic gallery in Laguna Beach in 2010. Since that time, I have spent every day working extremely hard to create a sense of positive community through art and to show that art in Orange County has just as much depth and importance as any art center in this world.

Running a gallery is hard work. The sacrifices I have made in time, effort, putting art sometimes even before my own family, are enormous, and I do it because I love art. I love the artists I work with. I love my peer gallery owners, who work just as hard as I do and with whom I have made friendships over the years. We have a common bond of sharing this life that we are passionate about and sacrifice for.

Over the years I have gotten to know hundreds of people who feel the same way I do about our community and about art. And I get to share this with new faces every day that come to visit Laguna Beach and want to be a part of what we have going on here.

This is what keeps my batteries charged and proves to me that what we do here as gallery owners is truly important. Each time someone comes into my gallery and thanks me for being open, each time someone thanks me for bringing the artists I work with into Laguna Beach, gives me strength and fuels my passion to carry on. In the past five years I have seen galleries come and go. It is a hard business.

I have been a paying member of the Art Walk since I opened in 2010, and I have been proud to be a part of this community of galleries. Even as a young gallery owner I attended every Art Walk board meeting because I wanted to feel a part of what we are doing here in Laguna, and I came to see first hand how much work goes into putting together a monthly event like Art Walk.

Many people do not realize that Art Walk is put together by a group of gallery owners who volunteer their time and are unpaid. These people should be honored for stepping up, and I give them so much gratitude and respect.

A few years ago I started volunteering my time to be on the board. One of my big jobs was spending my own time away from my business and family to update the brochure for the Art Walk. In doing that, I was able to talk with all the owners and be a sounding board for them. Not one time did anyone say anything but thanks for the hard work we were doing.

And that is why I am so shocked that the Coastline Pilot would even run such a column. This column is complete drivel.

It’s obvious to me that this was a ploy at the expense of First Thursdays Art Walk and galleries who support the Art Walk. When the Coastline Pilot runs an article that reads like a serious editorial piece, there should be some sort of serious journalism techniques involved, including fact-checking.

What the column doesn’t show is that the gallery art director in the story — when advertising her events — recommends that guests “bring their own bottle of wine as the gallery runs out fast,” but yet in the article that blames the Art Walk she complains, “They get off the shuttle in droves every 20 minutes, and they come with their glass.”

Strange. She wants them to bring a bottle but not a glass. Then she goes from saying, “the drinking has gotten out of hand ...” But a few paragraphs later says, “I’m not against the drinking per se; I would just like it to get back to a nicer, more sophisticated event.”

Seems to me like she can’t make up her mind. Does she want people to ask for beverages? Or not?

She also says that during Art Walk “... I’ve sold one sculpture and maybe three tiny prints, which is nothing. It’s not bringing in any money,” and complains of losses caused by drunken visitors.

“We don’t need to have a free party every month,” she says. “This isn’t a charity.”

I’m not sure what to expect when you ask people to BYOB.

In fact, why run a column slamming Art Walk? Maybe it should be slamming one gallery that contributes to the very thing they are publicly blaming someone else for.

I ask you, Coastline Pilot, What is the agenda here?

There is one final touch to bring me back full circle to the beginning of this letter, and that’s the concluding remarks from the writer of the column:

“Perhaps the supporters [of Art Walk] have been drinking the spiked Kool-Aid for too long because it’s clear among gallery owners that the Art Walk party has become a boor. And the entire Laguna community is lesser for it.”

I am a gallery owner. I am a supporter of art in Laguna Beach. I am a supporter of my fellow galleries and artists in our community, and I am a strong supporter of the Laguna Beach Art Walk and the people who give their time to it; they are my friends and extended family.

To flat out say that Art Walk is detrimental to the community of Laguna Beach is not only outright wrong but just might be considered libel. I expect so much more from the editors of the Coastline Pilot. In fact, I am livid when I think about what was said in that closing statement. I expect a retraction and apology to the board of the First Thursdays Art Walk.

TORREY COOK is the founder and owner of Artists Republic Gallery in Laguna Beach.