The end: Cape's first gallery devoted to contemporary art is closing

After more than a year, Fountain Street Gallery's stint as Cape Girardeau's home for original, contemporary art is coming to end.

On March 30 the gallery will see its last art show before closing its doors to the art-viewing public. Tonight gallery artist James Thurman will host an exhibition of his work.

Southeast Missouri State University art professor Sarah Riley purchased the Victorian-style home at 34 N. Fountain St. in 2005 to create what at the time was the only gallery in the city devoted solely to exhibiting contemporary art. The gallery became a regular destination on the First Friday of every month, packed with devotees of contemporary art ranging from college students to middle-age professionals.

Riley performed extensive repairs on the 110-year-old home to make it ready for visitors, and Fountain Street opened in December 2005. But now, Riley says, she overcommitted herself in her enthusiasm to create a permanent space for contemporary art on the Cape Girardeau scene.

"I think it's been a great experience," Riley said. "We were the only contemporary gallery in Missouri between St. Louis, Springfield and Memphis. I just can't do it anymore."

Riley said running the gallery while performing her teaching duties at Southeast has become too demanding.

"There's a lot that goes into really running a gallery well," Riley said. "If I had been retired, it would have been perfect. Now it's turned into two jobs."

Fountain Street regulars probably aren't too surprised to see the gallery close. For months a "for sale" sign was displayed in the front yard. But recently the sign had come down, and Riley had taken the home off the market until "somebody offered me something I couldn't turn down."

"Somebody" turned out to be the new manager at West Park Mall, John Dickey, and wife Mahona. "They know the value of this place and the history of it," Riley said.

The Dickeys will use the home for its intended purpose -- a home -- leaving Fountain Street's artists and regulars without a contemporary gallery to exhibit their work or visit.

"I was pretty upset about it," James Thurman said. Thurman is a gallery artist, but losing Fountain Street is even more significant to him. Thurman recently rented studio space on the house's upper floor, so news of the closing left him looking for a new place to create his artwork. He's found a place, but Thurman and Fountain Street's other artists are still left without a gallery to call their own.

"A lot of people felt really comfortable about showing there," Thurman said of Fountain Street. "It felt more homey. I think that they really enjoyed showing there, and now that the venue's not going to be open, they're going to be more reluctant to show anywhere else."

The closing not only disappoints the artists, but the regulars who attended Fountain Street receptions on the first Friday of every month.

Fountain Street regular Charles Burton said he expected the gallery might close soon, but was still sad to hear the news. Fountain Street was a place where art that was out of the ordinary for Cape Girardeau held prominence, Burton said.

"It seemed out of place, kind of, but it belonged," Burton said. "It was out of place here in Cape, but closer to what I believe is art than what I might see at the arts council."

The atmosphere, Burton said, was "like an open house party with cultured people."

Another gallery regular, Dr. Robert Higgerson, said Fountain Street and its emphasis on young artists (most gallery members are college students or recent college graduates) provided a fresh perspective that was unmatched at other Cape Girardeau galleries.

"At the arts council they had interesting works of art from the point of view of technical proficiency, but at Fountain Street, I got to see art that was very original in style," Higgerson said, citing the work of Thurman and Wells.

Some of Fountain Street's artists will still have opportunities to show their work as members of the arts council and Visual Arts Cooperative. Those who don't will just have to wait for another contemporary gallery to open up, or for the infrequent exhibitions put on by the Modest Living Artists, who don't have a space of their own. Most of the Modest Living Artists were members of Fountain Street, like Thurman. Other than Fountain Street, the MLA's regular venue is the third floor at Buckner Brewing Co., which is often booked for other purposes.

"The room at Buckner's fills up pretty quick during he summer," Thurman said.

But the MLA will search for other venues in an effort to keep putting its art before the public until another Fountain Street comes along, Thurman said.

"I'm really hoping that someone will just decide to open up another contemporary art gallery here in Cape," he said.

Riley thinks someone will step forward and provide what Thurman is looking for. Local interest in contemporary art is building, she said.

"Students need places to show, they need to get their work out and let people see what kind of accomplishments they have made," Riley said. "Fountain Street has been a good place for it, but I think it's growing elsewhere."

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182