Popular city gallery to close, marking the end of an era

Having survived the recession and seen good times return, the longest-running artist-owned gallery in Galway City is to close its doors.  The Black Cat Gallery, run by Ted Turton and Janet Vinnell, has been on Market Street since August 2004, and it was previously known The Hawthorn when Janet was in partnership with Linda Keohane, meaning that the gallery has been in existence for nearly two decades.

“I remember, in 2008, the sale of big pieces collapsed overnight,” recalls Ted Turton of how the recession affected their business. “Other galleries either closed or people moved out but we held on. We had to sell twice as many small things to survive and it was tough.”

Within four or five years, the number of transactions had halved and they had to slash prices. Paintings that had been selling for more than €1,000 in the boom years were reduced massively, says Ted, a former Artistic Director of Galway Arts Festival and, before that, a member of the Footsbarn Travelling Theatre Company.

Business only really began to pick up before the Christmas just gone, he adds.

“This little shop has been like a mirror of Irish society and people’s spending powers.”

Ted and Janet are closing for circumstances that are not directly related to them and are outside their control, but he has no regrets.

“It has been great fun. Janet and I have very similar tastes and we developed an eclectic selection of cards, concentrating on things that other people didn’t have. That’s not including the bronzes, ceramics and Jellycat toys.”

The Black Cat’s eclectic range ensured that regular customers were kept happy and had something new to sample.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.