Sponsoring Dendronaut

After over a year of planning, Suite 215 Gallery at 78th Street Studios finally opened with our show, “Dendronaut: Wandering the Woods.” WOOD-LEE International Art Handler decided to sponsor a gallery, not only to promote local artist Jeff Poplar, but to show off our in-house curator, Candace Bembenick. Sponsoring Suite 215 Gallery for any artist is something WOOD-LEE has never done before, we aren’t sure that any art handler has done this before either!

While we didn’t know how this show would be received, we decided to take the risk. Sponsoring this show with Jeff meant that our curator had to collect all of Poplar’s works from his basement, develop a show theme and name, then finally mat and frame all of the works to prepare them for display in the gallery (which our handlers then installed!). In sponsoring this gallery, WOOD-LEE hopes to bring attention to a local artist we know and love, as well as show off our professional services to a crowd interested in art.

After spending our three “Third Fridays” at 78th Street Studios, it seems that everyone loves Poplar’s work as much as we do. Passersby could enjoy viewing the art and had the opportunity to speak to the artist at a Third Friday, or during one of the two Artist Talks we hosted. Everyone seemed shocked to know about Poplar’s process with oil pastels. We expected all of the artworks to sell, given how spectacular they all are, and though only a third sold, we are very happy with the outcome of our first gallery show, “Dendronaut: Wandering the Woods.”