For Ben Will and Sarah Eberle, art doesn’t merely imitate life, the two blend together. After working together as curators and eventually marrying, the two decided that they wanted to open an art gallery, but wanted to avoid going broke while doing so. For them, one way to do this was to live in the same building as their gallery, Rebekah Templeton Contemporary Art. “Part of our business model was to lower the overhead of owning a gallery by living in the space, so we bought this building with the intention of renovating the entire thing and opening a gallery in the front space.”
Part of Ben and Sarah’s money-consciousness stemmed from watching budgeting issues and overspending close down many galleries. Ben says, “We’ve watched a lot of galleries, just in the 4 years since we’ve opened, open up with a big to-do costing tens of thousands of dollars, and within six months they’re closed. We didn’t want to go that route.” And they’ve seen their approach work since the gallery’s opening in 2007. “We do everything in house,” says Ben. “Sarah does all the graphic and web design, and I do bookkeeping.” Sarah adds, “Our separate skills really meshed well to get this business started, and we both do freelance work as well to pay the bills.”
More than just their finances are operated with a unique focus. Ben and Sarah want their gallery to bring a different way of gallery management to Philadelphia. Ben says, “We’re trying to organically grow the gallery. We pick artists that may not sell really well, but do well in the press and are recognized for doing very good work and interesting things. That’s our first priority, and the second is to convince people that since these artists are doing such amazing things, it’s worth buying their work.”
The gallery focuses on Emerging Contemporary Art, and thus carries exhibitions that often vary from what other galleries show. “It’s more conceptually based. A lot of the stuff we really like are full-on installations,” says Sarah. “We’re more interested in installation and new media. When an artist approaches us, the thing we find most exciting is when they say, ‘This is what we want to do with your space.’ It’s not just, ‘Here are five paintings to display.’ Instead it’s, ‘I want to carve out a wall here and build something there.’”
Ben says their gallery “Tries to show artists that are working more experimentally than others. Rather than catering to what the art market in Philadelphia wants, we’re going the other route and trying to train the market to want what we want.” He adds with a laugh, “It’s certainly a business model that doesn’t really make sense except in the art world.”
The gallery’s fresh approach has paid off with the press and earned it consistent rave reviews. For Sarah, this is the best reassurance that they’re doing things right. “Personally, I take getting good reviews in the press as our biggest compliment. Every show we’ve done so far this year has gotten covered in the Inquirer, which is great. We’ve been really lucky.”
But it might have less to do with luck, and more to do with smart, hard work. Ben says, “We’re considered a gallery that’s really on it. We’re not necessarily a financial powerhouse, but one of the only galleries to specialize in emerging artists in a solo show environment. While a lot of galleries do group shows and have hundreds come to their openings, we focus on one artist. It’s more mellow and more about the work.”
Ben and Sarah hope to use their gallery both to showcase great artists and to change peoples’ perceptions of art. Sarah says, “We want people who don’t necessarily consider themselves to be art buyers or appreciators to understand that they can have a piece of art on their wall for a reasonable amount of money and it’s all right. To me, that’s what good art is: if you like it, it’s good for you and that’s all that matters.”