My view of a gallery is that it should be an intermediary between the artist and the art-lover. Each piece of art has a story behind it -from when it was created, to information about the artist who created it. We try to tell those stories, using our website, thedancingrabbitgallery.com, as the vehicle.
The Dancing Rabbit Gallery is an expression of my passion for Southwestern Native American art, and I am very touched by the many comments that I have been receiving recently about our stories. Many of you have asked about our store location, and I have replied that we are only an online store, not a physical storefront. There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach, and my husband Michael and I decided to go the online route.
Our website has lots to offer. The full versions of the blogs are there; the ones on Dancing Rabbit Facebook page are shortened versions. We have lots of artist profiles; many of currently active artists who we have been able to meet and develop wonderful relationships. As I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs, making friends with artists and learning their stories is what my mother and grandmother did during their lives, and this gives me such a bond to their lives, as well as a bond to my Native American friends.
We also have profiles on the New Mexico pueblos and some of the Southwest Native American tribes. That gives us more context and understanding when we see pictures of the Taos pueblo, in continual use for over a thousand years. It helps us appreciate the work of potters who go into the Jemez mountains and dig their clay from the earth, spending countless hours shaping and creating the incredible pots that we see today; the silversmiths of the American Southwest, who learned their initial skills from the Spanish and expanded those skills through laborious trial and error, to produce stunning bracelets, necklaces, and other jewelry; the skillful weavers of textiles who create both beautiful and useful pieces, often with very intricate patterns; and of the artists who capture the magnificence of the Southwest on paper through paint and photographs.
The website allows each of you to view all of these different items – whichever ones strike your interest – along with the back stories on each item. I have spent endless hours doing research, and relying heavily upon my network of experts, making sure that you see only authentic Native American items with accurate information about them. And there are lots of pictures. If you see an item, but would like a different picture angle, just let me know.
Today’s generations are very comfortable with online shopping. If you don’t live near the American Southwest, popping in to a Santa Fe or Scottsdale gallery can be a bit of a journey. There are a number of gallery owners in those areas that I know and respect, as they will take the time to give you the back story on each piece they have, and they are fair and honest businesspeople. Many of them have begun embracing the new world of online shopping, and are actually seeing more shopping done online than in their physical stores.
My parents started The Dancing Rabbit Gallery in 1980, well before the Internet was even close to what it is today, and I am working hard to continue their legacy, but also working hard to deliver an outstanding online experience to each of you. I hope that you will continue to share our Facebook page with your friends, visit our online gallery, and give us more feedback as to what you would like to see and how we can make the Gallery website more friendly and useful to each of you.
Thank you for a wonderful start to 2016! I am eager to make this the best year ever for The Dancing Rabbit Gallery.