I'm coming down for Idiot Box, couldn't miss our 5 year anniversary show! It blows my mind that it's been 5 years already. I can still remember driving in my car with Jensen when we came up with the idea to open 1988. For two people with very little knowledge of opening an art gallery, we actually spent a lot of time planning. We wrote a formal business plan, which we recently found down in the LA store and it's SO different than how the gallery turned out. It's actually pretty funny to read now. We came up with our name which was first "Elephant Gallery" which then switched to "Anthony Michael Hallway" and then we finally settled on "Nineteen Eight Eight."
I remember sitting my parents down at a restaurant on Fillmore St., with the typed up business plan, of course, to tell them at 22 years old I was opening an art gallery with Jensen, who was my boyfriend at the time. My dad didn't speak for about an hour. I think he completely tuned out in a "I can't believe this is happening" kind of way. My parents eventually got on board and became really excited about the gallery and have been incredibly supportive ever since. My dad even drove down from San Francisco to help Jensen's dad renovate the space. He showed up with all of his tools and his handyman outfit (a white button down dress shirt, khaki shorts, white tubes socks and old, black dress shoes because he didn't want to "scuff up his white sneakers"). He is the cutest man on the planet, think Ned Flanders. And then when the grand opening came, my entire family flew down for the event. My sister, Lindsey, who is afraid to fly, overdosed on sleeping pills for the one hour flight and threw up all night.
There are so many amazing memories, most are probably boring to everyone besides me and Jensen. But even just writing this blog post and thinking back makes me laugh. We are extremely lucky and I feel so blessed that we've come this far.
Enough mushy stuff.
See you in LA!
Katie
G1988 SF
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3 comments:
congrats on the 5 yr anniversary!! thanks for putting me on with you guys! it's been great showing with you guys throughout the years.
Frank Gonzales
i remember meeting up with you and jensen for dinner to talk about a show, back when it was still gonna be called "Elephant Gallery". can't believe that was over 5 years ago. congrats on your continued success, and i'm happy to be a part of the show!
wish i could be there in person..
If you wouldn't mind posting it to the site, I'd love to read the business plan (however ridiculous it may be). I'm a huge fan of the establishment, and as a college student, I'd love to create something like it one day. Congratulations on the milestone.
P.S. You guys should team up with an independent record label (like Stones Throw or Quannum Projects) for a show at some point.
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