IT'S A SAFE BET that people strolling west from Main Street on 400 South will miss the treasure trove of art in Dave Ericson's Gallery 56.
The gallery doesn't have the customary display window, and the entrance sits back at a perpendicular angle to the sidewalk. It's not that Ericson is trying to hide from the public, he's just in a challenging location.He tried relocating a couple of years back when his landlord tripled the rent - Ericson's been at 56 W. 400 South since 1978 - but properties of similar size were as prohibitive as his current space with the tripled rent. Because of the added expense "of moving, the expense of remodeling and the expense of letting everybody know that I had moved, I decided to stay," says Ericson.
Much of Ericson's business is word of mouth. "People know me," he says. "I help individuals develop collections." He carries artists like Gary Smith, Ken Baxter, Lee Udall Bennion, Peter Fillerup, Frank R. Huff, Randall Lake, Dennis Smith, Kimball Warren and others. Yet even with such a distinguished contingent of artists, times are still difficult.
"The reality of it is that the gallery business isn't overly profitable," Ericson says. Utahns don't buy a lot of original art even though the state is replete with fine artists.
"Another problem is that Salt Lake isn't a tourist destination," says Ericson. "The people that come here are coming to stay with grandma for a week, and they're trying to see how much less than a hundred dollars they can spend."
Ericson's opinions on why Utahns don't purchase more original art are strong. He recognizes that to change the problem would require art education and a courageous and venturesome art-buying community. "You can buy a great painting for $300 to $500, a great painting that's an original, one-of-a-kind work," he says.
"For instance, you have the Springville Museum of Art with their Spring Salon each year. Here they've created a system where artists put in what they feel is the best thing they've created over the last two or three month period of time. People ought to be flocking down there to buy the best things out of the show. It's not that expensive."
While it might be difficult to find, Gallery 56 contains some extraordinary works by local artists. And as you examine the paintings, drawings or sculpture, allow Ericson to stand at your elbow and bend your ear. You'll hear gems like: "The greatness of art is to live with it and participate in it so that when you walk outside and see the shadows coming across the road you say, `Wow. Look at what's happening here!' The purpose of art is to enhance life, not imitate it."