No More Sipping and Seeing?

By Debra Brehmer

Director, Portrait Society Gallery

Did anyone notice the lack of free wine on the last gallery night (January 16)? As a gallery owner, I was told by fellow gallerists as well as the Historic Third Ward Association that it is now verboten to serve wine to our visitors. What apparently happened is that more and more retail stores began hosting “drink and shop” nights. Someone in Waukesha complained to authorities that a store there was violating legal code in providing alcoholic beverages to shoppers. The state stepped in and asserted that an existing statute prohibits this and anyone who violates it will be fined and publicly flogged.

Yes, it’s high time someone cracked down on the wine-sipping that goes on at art galleries. This social atrocity has been going on for a few hundred years so thank God that the good state of Wisconsin had the clear vision (finally) to mop up this morally corruptive practice. We’ve all seen the art lovers stumbling around the Third Ward after they’ve fed at the bountiful trough of free wine, looking all disheveled from their night of raucous visual art encounters; an ugly sight indeed.

To clarify the matter, what follows is some of the information surrounding this long-awaited civic improvement:

Dear Gallery Night Participant:

We have been advised by Georgeann King, Special Agent for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue that it is unlawful to give away or sell alcoholic beverages in your place of business unless you have a valid license. Her letter follows below, along with an article that was printed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel regarding the same.

Since Gallery Night and Day is this Friday and Saturday, we wanted to make you are aware that this law is now being enforced.  The Historic Third Ward and East Town associations encourage your business to abide by the law.

Sincerely,

Gallery Night and Day Staff

**************************************************************************************************************

Good afternoon Nancy, this is a follow up to our phone call this morning regarding the Gallery Night/Day event that is being held on Friday January 16 and Saturday January 17, 2009. There has been ample media attention regarding events such as this, as well as individual businesses providing free alcohol to their customers on a regular basis or during a special event. I would like to clarify some important laws regarding this issue.

*Boutiques, art galleries, hair salons, bookstores and the like (this list is not all inclusive) are not allowed to give away or sell alcohol beverages to customers. Under definition, these businesses are considered “public places” (please see 125.09(1)). In addition to that, 125.67 states that a business can not give away alcohol beverages to evade the law. During the special event, an option for a business could be that they would provide a “coupon” (or something similar) to customers, allowing them to have a “free” drink at one of the local, licensed establishments.

Of course, any of the licensed businesses involved in the Gallery Night/Day event are allowed to sell and serve alcohol beverages accordingly. My goal is to clarify the laws surrounding these events to ensure consistent and fair enforcement of the Wisconsin alcohol beverage laws. It would be greatly appreciated if you would disseminate this information to your members involved in this event.

If you, or any of your members have questions or need further assistance, please contact me. In addition to that, if there are any other associations that I need to contact regarding similar events, please let me know.

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Georgeann King, Special Agent
WI-Department of Revenue
Criminal Investigation Section
Alcohol & Tobacco Enforcement
819 N. 6th Street, Room 408
Milwaukee WI 53203
(414) 227-4260
georgeann.king@revenue.wi.gov

Bubbly may get boot as shops face penalties for serving alcohol

By Kathy Flanigan of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Dec. 1, 2008

Enid Garcia looked in the mirror as she tried on a belted plaid jacket at Fred, a boutique on N. Water St. Everything in the store was 40% off, and Garcia’s morning plan included shopping, then sipping.

“I’m going to get the deals first, then relax,” Garcia said. Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of a cork popping from a bottle of champagne – part of Fred’s free Black Friday brunch of mini-muffins, doughnut holes and mimosas.

But the party could be coming to an end.  Two weeks ago, after a citizen complaint about a Wauwatosa shop offering free cocktails, the state Department of Revenue put an end to booze at all boutiques in the Tosa Village – and, possibly, other similar shops in the state.

In the last few years, boutiques from Brookfield to the Third Ward have been offering free cocktails and hors d’oeuvres to get customers in the door. In tough economic times, every little incentive helps. However, recent crackdowns may force boutique owners to forgo the adult beverages or face fines of up to $10,000.

Regular Thursday evening happy hours, as well as complimentary Black Friday Bloody Marys and mimosas, have been a tradition at Jilly & George, a boutique at 7605 Harwood Ave., Wauwatosa. Not any more. “It’s illegal, if you’re not a licensed premise, to serve alcohol,” said Jessica Iverson, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue, which monitors for proper licenses and permits.

“A proprietor may hold a private party (invited guests, specific date/time, after business hours) at a business and serve alcohol; once business is conducted, the party is no longer private in nature, and the business is functioning as a public place,” Iverson wrote in an e-mail, citing a state statute.

That statute is difficult to enforce, and many boutique owners said they weren’t aware of it. While an agent visited most of the boutiques in the Tosa Village, owners in other parts of town weren’t contacted. Other boutique owners have interpreted the statute their own way, some based on the advice of attorneys or other professionals.

Ronn Krinn, who owns Fred, 524 N. Water St., used to offer wine in the store. “It was part of our concept that we started from the beginning,” he said. He put a stop to that after a discussion with his attorney.

Fun, but no business

Even in compliance, the statute can seem ambiguous. Krinn said he locked the doors during private parties as required, but was ordered by the fire marshal to keep them unlocked while customers were inside.

Fred continues to have shopping parties once a month and invitation-only events that include martinis or wine, sometimes served by a licensed bartender. But, in the statute’s strictest terms, private parties would be considered illegal if business is being transacted, Iverson said.

The state agent who stopped at the Wauwatosa shops advised owners of the statute and offered options that included private parties in which drink coupons are offered for licensed premises, or parties in which the doors are locked and the guest list is by invitation-only. “Again, they should not be conducting business,” Iverson said.

Shopping as a party

For now, Department of Revenue agents are educating shopkeepers, although they haven’t made their way to every part of town. In the Historic Third Ward, home to several boutiques and the popular Gallery Night, shopping and sipping is the norm.

At Lela, a boutique at 321 N. Broadway, “We never hesitate to pop open a bottle of wine or champagne any time a customer has had a rough day or needs a boost or has a reason to celebrate,” employee Tracey Golden wrote in an e-mail.

Gallery Night has had a long history in which galleries offer wine in their stores during quarterly events.  “We had a discussion about alcohol with relation to Gallery Night with police,” said Ruth Lawson, spokeswoman for the Historic Third Ward Association. “They said, ‘We know what’s going on, and we’re going to “overlook it until there’s a problem.’  The City of Milwaukee has its own criteria for what galleries and other non-hospitality businesses can and can’t do when it comes to serving alcohol.

“Giving it away is the same as selling it. That’s a proposition of law that’s pretty clear,” assistant city attorney Bruce Schrimpf said. “If you are a bona fide art gallery, you can obtain a Class B or Class C wine license, and we cover that by saying we’ll view that as a form of recreational premises. If you are a bona fide party, it’s my understanding that the Milwaukee Police Department has a list of criteria for determining what is a private party.”

‘They make it fun’

Over on Brady St., they aren’t taking chances. Detour, 1300 E. Brady St., planned to host a live music event for customers once a month with DJs and refreshments including wine. Manager Jason Meyer said attorneys advised making the event invitation-only. Now he’s considering a switch from wine to non-alcoholic drinks.

Other shopkeepers say they could live without the drinks.  Next Door, 18915 W. Capitol Drive in Brookfield, hosts Thursday happy hour with champagne and chocolate, but Renotta Thompson, who owns the store with her daughter, thinks camaraderie and sales, not alcohol, bring in customers.

Customers say they would miss perks such as free cocktails.  “I like that it’s a boutique, and I love how they have the girls’ night,” said Fred shopper Garcia. “They (Fred) make it fun.”  Tammie Figlinski, 35, of Milwaukee passed up the mimosas at Fred’s – “with one drink I’m too tipsy to shop” – but likes the parties because they encourage time with her girlfriends.

Girlfriend-bonding events – girls’ night out, birthday celebrations, bachelorette parties with appetizers and adult refreshments – help customers find the off-Brady St. boutique Vieux et Nouveau, 1688 N. Franklin Place, said owner Heidi Calaway. The parties also ease some of the impact the economy is having on her business.  “In October, I had shopping parties – that helps tremendously,” Calaway said.

http://www.jsonline.com/business/35350294.html

Winter Gallery Night Part 2: day

The adventure continues on gallery day, and as usual, with a different atmosphere. The Friday evening activities are permeated by a rather carousing atmosphere, as gallery going takes on the character of party hopping. Gallery Day, in contrast, tends to be quieter, with much more room for looking at art rather than people.

David Barnett Gallery’s current offerings include prints by Marc Chagall, early 20th-century Dutch artist Kees van Dongen, and a group entitled Latin American and Spanish Masters. The works by Chagall and van Dongen provided plenty to look at, but the most interesting part of the visit was the work Latin American and Spanish selection, especially the work of Uruguayan artist Ignacio Iturria. His large-scale, two-dimensional pieces on corrugated cardboard are sophisticated in image and execution, and earthy in their medium. The rough texture was mimicked in Iturria’s large oil painting, Relaciones Armoniosas, with horizontal ridges of paint rippling like wavy cardboard, playing an even rhythmic surface texture, and despite the overall tonality of charming blue, there’s a great deal of tension in the high-contrast three-dimensionality of highlights and black shadows. (Note: the exhibition dates for Latin American & Spanish Masters state that it closes on Jan. 10. Best to call ahead if you’re interested in seeing it).

Another place to see a group show with a great variety is Tory Folliard Gallery, this month showing Clare Malloy’s representations of single, simple objects in pastel and in paint. Items are situated in the center of small scale works, things such as a perfume bottle, a teacup, a cupcake, and are mysterious markers of identity, divorced from their original home and person; each a little lost but like beacons of particular taste and preference. Russ Vogt’s work, in comparison, is a Fauve-ish explosion of heavy paint and color on canvas and sculptures. In the East Gallery, an installation called Streetwise displays two- and three-dimensional works by a trio of self-taught artists, each divergent in their own particular style.

Clare Malloy, Pink Pearls, on view at Tory Folliard Gallery

Dean Jensen Gallery is currently showing a very interesting amalgamation of work. Through it’s a “regular” gallery space (i.e. lots of squared-off wall space and minimal furniture), this show has the feeling of walking through someone’s personal art collection – a few pieces from this artist, a few from that one, sculptures sprinkled throughout, and not unified by an overt theme or style.

Actually, the only unifying theme has nothing to do with art, but with commerce. The current works on view at Dean Jensen Gallery come with a price tag of less than $750, which means bargains throughout. This slashing of prices for paintings and such is a sign of the times, as the challenges of the economy are being reflected in a realm where aesthetic matters and sheer desire usually eclipse all else. There are many Milwaukee artists in the show, and well-represented are artists awarded with Mary Nohl Fellowships. Tyson Reeder, Scott Reeder, and Santiago Cucullu, past recipients of the award (1/23/08 clarification: Scott Reeder and Santiago Cucullu are past recipients of the Nohl Fellowship) have works on view, and Kevin J. Miyazaki, who was featured in the Nohl show this year, is also shown. A favorite find of mine were the works at the back of the gallery, the strange, gently aloof and haunting paintings by Rafael Salas. (Additional note: to see more work by Cucullu and Salas, check out the current exhibition at MIAD, Personal Cultures: New Art from Latin Americans).

Dean Jensen Gallery; sculptures by Jason Yi, another past Nohl Fellowship recipient, in the foreground.

Rafael Salas, The Woman Who Swallowed the Ocean, at Dean Jensen Gallery

Other galleries are following suit in terms of making the case for buying art in tough economic times. The DeLind Gallery of Fine Art is promoting an inventory reduction sale, and Cissy Peltz Gallery, currently installed with a richly eclectic variety mediums and artists, encourages visitors from far afield and those in the neighborhood to drop in and enjoy the works on view, and extends the idea of art not just as a purchase of an “thing,” but a physical presence that enhances and enriches one’s own living space.

But while the tumbles in the financial world are clearly having ripple effects on the larger, established galleries, the undercurrent of younger artists and exhibition spaces still seems to flow strongly. Jazz Gallery, a large storefront space in Riverwest, is showing a portfolio exhibition of works by UWM photography students. Biting commentaries on dreamy fairytales that lose their glow in harsh modern light are suggested in the Tales of Disenchantment series by Maegan Novak, and Trisha Buster shows large-format rural landscapes where the sharp clarity of detail reaching into the background gives an air of strange unreality to seemingly ordinary land.

Dock and Cattails, by Trisha Buster, at Jazz Gallery.  (for a far better reproduction, check out T. L. Buster’s site: http://tlbusterphotography.blogspot.com/2008/12/milwaukee-jazz-gallery-portfolio.html)

See more pictures from Gallery Night and Day on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/susceptibletoimages/

- KM Murrell

Winter Gallery Night 2009 Part I: night

We ran around in the freezing cold last night, and saw quite a number of fabulous things. I admit, I was surprised at the quantity of figurative works, but we’ll see what today’s selection brings before making a final call on that.

A highlight was White Whale Collective, showing the work of Emily Belknap (below top) and Julia Schilling (below bottom). Belknap uses fine wires, low horizons, and visual expanses to create works that are elegant, minimal yet humanistic, without becoming maudlin or academically stale. A lovely sense of composition and especially, materials.

Schilling’s wax tiles and letters piled in corners are like the potential of language, self-aware in their expressive potential, and have the feeling that they’re holding back, not quite giving in to the viewer in their statement. Formal in their disarray. It’s a powerful sort of reserve.

The Armoury Gallery has another strong showing in their Western States exhibition. The gorgeous lines of Colleen Sanders are quite pretty and patient. The drawings of constructed – I want to say worlds, but maybe microcosms is better – of Adrianne Watson are richly engrossing. She combines and piles images in these large-scale, two-dimensional works with a confidence that makes them concrete and substantive, though spatially complex and unreal. Admittedly, it was hard to get close and personal to each work, but looking over the shoulders of the multitude of people in the gallery was enough to indicate a strong body of work by the six artists in the show. An interesting moment – or extended moment, as we took our time stepping out of the fray, was the room installation (which also extends out to work on the fire escape) called  ‘Everything is Fine’ by Colin Matthes.   This space, about ten x seven feet, with drippy black paint scrawling the words ‘everything is fine.’ Overhead, a black circle spins – a wheel, of life? of fate? of a wagon? Disconcerting at first, but it sinks in after a while. Fine fine fine, in a rubber-room sort of way.

For more gallery night pictures, see flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34413954@N07/

• KMMurrell