Life & Work with Sara Cron of Ten Women Gallery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Cron.

Hi Sara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today. 
The “Ten Women Gallery” on Main St in Santa Monica is celebrating its 30th anniversary!!! Here the story of the Little Gallery that could! 

How we began 

In 1994 there was a group of women who met when their kids were attending S.M.A.S.H. school in Santa Monica. Their kids became friends, and as often happens, the parents became friends as well. What also bonded them, in addition to their kids, was that they were all artists. 

One day, while their kids were playing and the moms were talking, they started discussing their desire to exhibit their art, and soon, a hunt for a space began. 

Eventually, they found a large defunct sheet metal studio @ 2651 Main Street that had turned primarily into a printmaking studio but eventually became studio space for several other artists as well. The building also had a small 150 sq foot storefront. 

For a while, the studio artists took turns using the storefront to show their work rotating every month. Eventually, they decided to stop the rotation, making the space available for a business to move in. 

One of the mothers discovered the space was available, and she immediately signed a month-to-month lease. They began fixing it up to suit their needs and decided to look for a few more artists and make it a Co-Op. By the time they were ready to open, they had grown to ten artists. All that was left was to give it a name, and it was then that they decided to call it the Ten Women Gallery! 

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Our Biggest CHALLENGE 

Ten Women Gallery is a true co-op, meaning that there’s no boss, no corporation behind us, and so nowhere to turn for extra capital when things go wrong, and in 24 years nothing had, we were one of the longest standing businesses on a significant stretch of Main Street. Then, on Valentine’s Day 2018, we were suddenly faced with our biggest challenge. A city official walked in, slapped a paper on the counter and told us they were shutting us down. It turned out the studio the gallery was housed in had myriad of building code violations that the property owner could not fix. Overnight, we lost our home, but we decided not to give up. 

We were determined to find a new location and determined to stay on Main Street. But it wasn’t going to be easy. Especially since three of your artists at the time decided to call it quits, so we were down to seven. We meet weekly at the home of the one of the artists to strategize. We broke into groups and assigned jobs. But it didn’t take long to realize that because we had no financial backers, it would be nearly impossible to find a place that we could afford. 

Just when we were about to give up, we learned that Clouds, another iconic long-standing business on Main Street, was shutting its doors just one block south of our old home. We knew it was a long shot, the space was six times bigger than our original location, so clearly it would be far more expensive, and we would need more artists to join the Co-Cp if we were going to survive. That is, if we got the lease. 

We did get it in no small part because our new landlady was very familiar with Ten Women. She was amazing, kind, understanding, and willing to work with us and to this day we are so grateful, she truly was our hero! 

The lease signed the work was just beginning. We met weekly, juried in new artists, who then rolled up their sleeves and got to work with us. Together, with the help of family, friends, and a few hired hands, we started painting, removing walls, installing new lighting, pulling up carpet, restoring the original floor, and more. It was a true group effort. We reopened nine months after we were shut down. 

The community support when we opened the doors to our new location was overwhelming; it was humbling how many loyal customers returned, telling us how much they missed us and how happy they were that we were back! 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Honestly, there are many things that set us apart; here a few of them, 

To begin with, Ten Women Gallery is a TRUE co-op, meaning that each artist has the same amount of space, each artist sets their own price for their work, each artist works one shift a week, keeping the gallery open, each artist serves on a committee that keeps the gallery functioning, and as well we meet monthly to check in with each other, interview potential new artists, and discuss issues relating to the business of running a gallery and we split all expenses between us equally which means that each artist gets 100% of what their work sells for. 

Everything in the gallery is handmade by local artists, thus giving local arts an outlet for their work. 

The ambience of our space is very special, with great lighting and a big open space allowing patrons to cruise around comfortably as they enjoy exploring a vast selection of handmade artisan which includes jewelry, ceramics, fiber art, leather art, candles, fused glass, painted glass, functional art from discarded instruments, Linoleum block prints, pop art, mid-century modern art, enamel art, handwoven wall art, paste paper art, woodturning art, photography, oil paint, acrylic and watercolor works of art…the list goes on and on! And no matter what day or time you come into the gallery, you will always be greeted by one of the artists who is working her shift. 

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The Ten Women gallery has succeeded in a way that is rare; we have created a community of diverse women artists, and we are there for each other. Not only are we inspired by the amazing art in the gallery, when any one of us is really unsure or struggling with an idea for a new project or a current work, we have a family of amazing artists to bounce ideas off of. 

Creating art can be lonely when you’re in it alone. Having such a supportive, nurturing, diverse, savvy group makes all the difference! 

And lest we forget that this year marks 30 years that Ten Women has thrived on Main St in Santa Monica, and to celebrate this stunning accomplishment, we have a gala open house on April 20th, 2024, and we invite everyone to come to eat, drink and be merry and meet the artists! 

Pricing:

• Prices generally range from $5 dollars to $1000

Contact Info:

• Website https://www.tenwomengallery.com/
• Instagram: Ten Women Gallery

Image Credits
Ten Women Gallery