Running an art gallery in downtown Saratoga, N.Y., has been a longtime dream for
Jim Lowe '69 and his partner in life and business, Deborah Martin. Today, six years after they met at a party, their Gallery 100 at 445 Broadway is a Saratoga success.
Lowe entered the business world after graduating, eventually becoming a corporate marketing executive for a pharmaceutical company. But, having an artist as a mother and a lifelong interest in art, he collected painting and sculpture during his business years.
A health crisis and a chance meeting gave him the opportunity to turn avocation into a second career.
“A heart attack, bypass surgery, and a stroke forced me to change my life while I was in my 50s,” Lowe says. A casual conversation with artist Deborah Martin (Skidmore '87) quickly turned into an exchange of artistic desires and dreams for the future. Despite Saratoga's “artsy” atmosphere and reputation,
they noted a surprising lack
of art galleries in the town and felt they could open a true fine arts gallery.
Lowe and Martin chanced upon a second floor space in the center of Saratoga that would be ideal. The two traveled to art galleries in places such as Boulder and Aspen, Colorado, to research whether or not second floor galleries would be accessible to the public. “We wanted to know if people would come, and they do,” Lowe says.
After starting on the conservative side with landscape paintings, they have added more abstract work as time went on. Although the exhibits for the most part comprise paintings, they also include sculptures, ceramics, and occasional photographs. The gallery regularly hosts work by regional artists based on different themes, such as “Landscapes Here and Now,” “Sisters,” “Garden Show,” and “Adirondack Arts.”
The diverse and constantly changing exhibits draw the curious as well as the artistic crowd. Lowe (whose father is
Robert B. '43 and brothers are Stephen '73 and E. Cameron '72) and Martin are very happy with the success of their dreams and hope to collaborate with decorators and designers in upcoming exhibitions. For now, they simply want to “keep the gallery going and make it successful.”
By Alina Samuels '03