LINCOLN SQUARE — "Comfortable" and "inviting" aren't two words typically associated with art galleries.
But that's how Tommy Reyes described the vibe he and business partner Dietrich Klevorn are aiming to create at Gallery 19, 4839 N. Damen Ave.
"When someone walks in the door, I'm quick to say, 'Hi,'" Reyes said. "I believe in engaging people. There's no stuffiness here."
Nestled between Groundswell Cafe and the vintage furniture shop District, Gallery 19 fills the last remaining available storefront on an up-and-coming stretch of Damen. Like neighboring Alapash, the gallery is a transplant from a smaller space on Montrose.
"I knew Marco [Chavarry] and Chris [Murphy] and they had been so supportive," Reyes said, crediting the owners of Alapash and District for his decision to stay in the neighborhood rather than move to Wicker Park or closer to his Pilsen home.
"I really love this neighborhood. Ravenswood has been good to me," he said. "We didn't want to leave what we had built."
Gallery 19 fills the last remaining available storefront on an up-and-coming stretch of Damen. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
In just a few short years, Gallery 19 has carved out a niche dealing in modern art by emerging artists fresh out of school and mid-career artists still building their reputation.
"I tell the artists, 'If we're doing our job right, you'll outgrow our gallery,'" said Reyes, 40, who has a master of fine arts degree in photography.
On the buyer side, the gallery caters to new collectors, the kind of people who've probably bought posters from Z Gallerie or Room and Board and are now looking to upgrade, he said.
"I want to make the experience fun," Reyes said. "People realize, 'Oh, that wasn't horrible.'"
Got your eye on a painting but aren't sure how it will look in your living room? Give Reyes a picture of the setting in question and he'll Photoshop the artwork onto your walls.
He also wears the hat of delivery guy and will even pay a house call to hang your piece.
"River North, the West Loop [galleries] — they won't do that," he said.
Reyes, who grew up in Pilsen and got into art because his mom "stuck us in every community program she could find," understands the sticker shock that typically accompanies a buyer's first purchase. That's where Klevorn's experience as an Art Institute docent comes in handy.
"I realized I have no talent for creating, but I do enjoy educating on art. I see something done brilliantly and I'm awed by it," said Klevorn, originally from St. Louis and the married mother of two grown daughters.
"Everybody looks at the price and wonders what the justification is," she said. "The time and the labor that goes into it is not always evident on its face."
She came up with the concept of hosting artist talks to accompany the opening of each show at the gallery, a way of splitting the difference between a museum and a classroom.
"When [the artists] explain it, it makes the work so much richer. It helps you appreciate the process," Klevorn said. "It goes into people understanding the value of the work."
Which isn't to discount a person's emotional response to a piece of art — that's how Klevorn and Reyes met in the first place.
She was stuck in traffic in front of the gallery's former home shortly after its opening and ceramic vessels displayed in the window caught her eye. It turned out all those vessels were the work of Reyes' husband, Doug, and they had all been sold to provide seed money for the shop. A connection was made.
"We had this great conversation for something like two hours," Reyes recalled. "She kept coming back and we kept having these great conversations."
Klevorn wound up commissioning pieces from Doug Reyes, becoming Gallery 19's first buyer.
"I was so nervous, I rang the sale up wrong," Tommy Reyes said. "She was so kind about it."
Klevorn began tagging along with Reyes on visits to artists' studios and eventually curated a show at the gallery.
"We realized we really fed each other," she said.
Their unofficial working relationship became official with the move of Gallery 19 to a much larger, higher profile location.
"I keep saying this is a big crap shoot ... only where the house doesn't win," Klevorn said.
Gallery 19's inaugural exhibition on Damen, "Expand - Contract," runs through Sunday and features works by Patrick Manning, Linda Adel Goodine, Sally Ko and Aaron S. Coleman.
"In the Mean Time" will open Oct. 16 with a reception from 6-9 p.m. featuring an artist talk at 7 p.m. The show includes photographer Melissa Ann Pinney, painter/printmaker Corinna Button, photographer Kathleen Hawkes and painter Christine Forni. Painter Anne Harris, an instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, will moderate the artist talk.
The work of Linda Adele Goodine on display at Gallery 19. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
The work of artist Sally Ko, on display at Gallery 19. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Tommy Reyes, with the work of Aaron S. Coleman. [DNAinfo/Patty Wetli]
Gallery 19's opening reception. [Facebook/Gallery 19]
Ceramic art by Doug Reyes, on display at Gallery 19. [Facebook/Gallery 19]
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