Picture by Hannah Schindewolf
Greater than a yr in the past, Robert Kent Tuchman puzzled if shifting his Marietta-based Robert Kent Galleries from 85 Church Road to 145 Church Road was the appropriate determination. True, it wasn’t very far—only a dozen-odd doorways down the road—however quantity 85 was excellent for six years. Then he sees his personal initials, RKT, carved into the sidewalk behind the constructing on the proposed location, and destiny appears sealed. “It seems to be prefer it’s been there for many years,” he says.
Tuchman started working as a wholesale trade salesperson in 2010. At first, he drove a truck stuffed with work throughout the Southeast to fulfill with inside designers, who accounted for 90 % of his enterprise. In state after state—“from Texas to Tennessee”—Tuchman encountered artists who have been excited by his journey. “I met a retired architect who had develop into an artist at a sushi bar, and I made a decision to point out his artwork,” he says. “It has been quite a lot of social interplay and networking.” His pleasant nature attracted sufficient artists that by 2012, he was in a position to open the primary iteration of the Robert Kent Gallery. The identical yr he married his spouse Holly.
Tuchman’s first location on the nook of South Marietta Parkway and Atlanta Road was small and troublesome for patrons to search out, so in 2017, they moved the gallery to a roomier quarter at 85 Church. Holly quickly started working full-time for the gallery, and Robert Kent Galleries picked up the tempo, exhibiting three to 4 artists every month. A latest exhibition included artists Rita Vilma, Lauren Kimsey, Kanayo Ede and Paz. Philanthropic occasions are additionally frequent with organizations benefiting funds reminiscent of The Humane Society of Cobb County and The Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre.
The brand new, bigger gallery is populated by a wide range of work, sculptures and combined media, representing artists “from Woodstock to Prague,” Tuchman mentioned. “We concentrate on dwelling artists: artists who make a dwelling creating their work.”
It has been a productive first yr at 145 Church Road, however the Tuchmans are wanting towards retirement themselves. They plan to depart the gallery within the succesful palms of their workers, although Holly doubts her husband will stroll away from the enterprise he loves. “He can work to his grave – however I wish to retire and sit underneath an umbrella on the seashore,” he says. “And you may print it!”
This text appeared in our October 2024 problem.
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