The Elliott Brown Gallery display at the 2008 SOFA CHICAGO.
Since Elliott Brown Gallery opened in 1993, it has represented such top-tier artists as Ann Robinson, Richard Marquis, Hank Adams, and Katherine Gray. Gallerist Kate Elliott was also a trendsetter when, in August of 2002, she closed down her retail gallery location in the Westlake section of Seattle but continued to represent artists at the major art fairs such as SOFA CHICAGO, and through her online gallery. Several other galleries specializing in glass, most recently Holsten Galleries, would follow her lead in the ensuing years.
On April 1st, however, Elliott Brown will close its virtual doors as its director moves out of Washington state and settles in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to run the new Bullseye Resource Center opening in the Southwest’s art capital on July 14th.
“I’d been looking for a change, and, in November, was at Bulllseye doing an appraisal,” Elliott told the Hot Sheet. “Lani [McGregor] said they were going to open a satellite in Santa Fe where they’d teach classes and offer a resource center for buying sheet glass and supplies. ... It just seemed like an ideal partnership.”
Elliott’s relationship with McGregor and Dan Schwoerer of Bullseye is decades old. Both Elliott and Schwoerer are alumni of Harvey Littleton’s glass program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Elliott will be working with Bullseye’s kilncasting expert Eric Whittemore who will head up the educational and technical operations in Santa Fe.
Asked if she will be having a closing party for her 17-year-old gallery, Elliott told the Hot Sheet that she wants to but isn’t sure because the real estate agent selling her North Bend, Washington, home is strongly opposed to the idea.