Gallery 12A
In 2009 Local Art teacher Rosemary Firth left her job of fifteen years to follow her dream of running her own art gallery in Doncaster. She was referred the details of Success Doncaster’s creative leg, CIDA, a free business mentoring provider who matched her with a number of mentors who each had unique specialisms to help her realise her dream.
Her first mentor was Sara Robinson, and cultural venue, events and audience specialist.
Rosemary said: “I remember Sara coming to see me when I had just moved in to the gallery, we sat on the floor as the space had no furniture and went through the essentials of running the business. She helped me to understand how to market the gallery, how much money I would need to earn from classes in order to sustain the business and come to terms with the reality of my situation. I had huge list of things to do and think about at the end of the sessions but all of the information was so useful that I couldn’t have done it without it.”
Gallery 12A is a contemporary Art Gallery which holds exhibitions of original Artwork produced by local and national Artists. Work on show ranges from very traditional oil paintings, watercolours and drawings to abstract multimedia work, textiles printmaking and sculpture.
After her first mentor, Rosemary continued for further advice from Arts Venue management specialist Teo Greenstreet, in regards to how to sublet upper floor rooms to artists and practitioners in the area. Some months later after an exciting start to her enterprise, more support was to come in the form of CIDA making Gallery 12A their base in Doncaster.
“We wanted to office a home in Doncaster and so it seemed a natural progression to move into the Gallery that we had helped to establish. It’s a lovely building and great space with a constant flow of creative practitioners so sits perfectly with the work we do to support businesses in the creative and digital industries. Plus, it’s a real luxury to come in to work on a morning and see such high quality local artwork,” says Steph Beever of CIDA.
Asked about the highlights of running the business, Rosemary said: “When I first started the business it was both scary and exciting. Some of the things I learned were that you need to work out what is and isn’t working early and be strict with yourself not to continue doing something if it isn’t bringing any money in. Having said that I also know how important it is to stick to your ethos and have a strong sense of identity. It’s important to me that I showcase high quality original artwork and that customers know this.
“My favourite thing about running the gallery is l meeting so many lovely people and making so many friends. It’s great to be surrounded by lovely things all day.”
Currently Rosemary is being mentored by textile artist Dionne Swift and has been developing a new blog website for the gallery alongside some internal changes to develop how the gallery is perceived by customers.
Rosemary added: “CIDA have been really helpful and friendly, their strength is that you feel looked after every step of the way.”
A regular programme of courses is run in the Gallery from September through to summer. Courses include drawing, painting, textiles and Life drawing, with a children’s class on Saturday morning. One day workshops have been a particularly successful venture lately and are likely to feature prominently in the future.
For more information on Gallery 12A, contact Rosemary on 01302 738377, visit www.gallery12a.com or why not go down and see it for yourself, the address is:
Gallery12a,
South Parade,
Doncaster,
DN1 2DY
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