Founding Manifest:
Conversation with Jason Franz
“We were flying blind,” Jason Franz says of the founding of Manifest Gallery, which has in its short life (first exhibition, January, 2005) become one of the most interesting and dependably high quality art venues in the city.
Had the founders (Franz, his wife Brigid O'Kane, and Elizabeth Kauffman, then an undergraduate student under his tutelage) patterned Manifest after an existing gallery? My question brings a laugh and a “No.” Nobody was doing what they projected: a space where student work and professional work could be shown together, without artificial separations.
Franz, then teaching in the art department at Xavier University, had become increasingly frustrated at students' lack of opportunity to show their work. He knew some of it was strong, deserved being seen, should be judged against established professionals. Not everyone realizes, he says, that “great work can be made by very young people.” He cites the high energy of youth and mentions Michelangelo, making masterpieces in his twenties; Picasso and Rembrandt, precocious in their teens; Dali, who “supposedly made such excellent work as a boy that his father gave up painting.” Franz had sponsored a project at Xavier that brought in established artists to work with the students “and they learned from each other. Why not show together?” he wondered.
A frequent message from Franz to his students was “It's not enough to make art, you should share it with people, you should show it.” As faculty advisor to a group formed under the Xavier student government and open to anyone interested in visual arts, he pressed on with his concept. Ideas coalesced, there was talk by the students of establishing an off-campus gallery space. Kauffman was then president of the group.
“Manifest was Liz Kauffman's idea. She said we should really form a gallery not just for Xavier, but for all students. She was right. Our goal was, originally, to break the isolation of Xavier. I personally was working hard to break down barriers and have the students interact with other universities, but being independent was Liz's idea. At the time I didn't realize I would be as involved as I have been.”
We are talking in the gallery's tiny office, behind two modest exhibition spaces opening onto Woodburn Avenue in East Walnut Hills. The third annual 'Master Pieces' exhibition is on view, works by artists in graduate programs or who have received their Master degree within the past year. The exhibition, comprised of “sixteen works by thirteen new masters,” closes August 7. The artists are from as near as Miami University in Oxford and as far as San Francisco, Corpus Christi, and Boston, plus Nebraska, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Louisiana and Kentucky. (A surprise addition to the schedule is next. Announced as the first annual Nude, this ninth exhibit period in the current season runs August 14 through September 11 and like all Manifest shows has attracted submissions from far afield.)
Internet access to worldwide calls for entries has been invaluable in Manifest's development. “I don't think we would exist without it,” Franz says. Broad-spectrum use of the internet “was something that happened at about that time. Without it we would have had to send faxes. . .I just don't think we would have made it. But one of the things that surprised me was just how dramatic the response has been, without a whole lot of time and effort on our part.” In 2007, in recognition of the gallery's extended base, Manifest decided to be known as “a neighborhood gallery for the world.”
When the space at 2727 Woodburn Avenue first turned up the founders had seen and rejected several other locations. “This seemed right from the start. It was inexpensive, had easy access, was well located in relation to Xavier, University of Cincinnati, and the Art Academy, then still in Eden Park,” Franz says. A potential art audience was close at hand in the varied neighborhood.
In the meantime, however, Franz had decided to leave Xavier. “Everything was happening at once. It was very stressful. I was leaving Xavier, we decided to establish the gallery, and Brigid and I were going to have a baby. All this going on at the same time.” The Franz's daughter Alexandra was born twenty-one days after the first opening, in January, 2005, and has attended every Manifest opening since.
“We knew it would be demanding. I didn't know anything about business, none of us did. We had to do everything from scratch, had to learn how to be a non-profit. We had advice and help from the Fine Arts Fund, which continues to educate us on different aspects of non-profit work,” says Franz, looking like an artist/businessman behind his desk. He wears a suit jacket, but parts his brown hair in the middle and wears it just short of shoulder length.
The location may have been ideal, but the space “was in terrible shape. A bathroom had been installed in what's now the main gallery; there was no access between the two gallery rooms. The floors, the walls, everything is new. We did it all ourselves, Liz and I and two or three student interns. Brigid, of course, was increasingly pregnant. It took six months.”
But despite everything “We sensed it was perfect. Like making a work of art that feels whole from the start. We were surprised and delighted when our first opening was jam-packed for four solid hours. We had 400 people, fellow artists, others. People's reactions were that the art was really good.”
And that, of course, is the reason for the gallery's success.
“I'm strict about quality. We miss once in a while, but we're very careful,” Franz says. The review process is demanding. “We have a jury of ten people; everybody looks at every work. The number one rule is that all they see is the image, no name, no location. They don't see the artists' written texts because it would take too long.” As an example, 'Master Pieces' received 400 entries from 139 artists, so jurors look at a great many images.
Scoring is from zero (not a chance) to three (consider seriously) plus a separate “best” that can be awarded by each juror five times. Maximum score a work could receive is thirty - if each of ten jurors awards a three - and everything fifteen or above goes to the curator, who is usually Franz. “So it's a two-part filter. You can't be preferential; it's not personal preference but what is good art. Then when it gets to the curator, it's time to think about space.”
Franz, now Adjunct Assistant Professor and Foundation Design Drawing Content Coordinator, School of Design at the College of DAAP, University of Cincinnati; had told me that the elements shaping his own thinking come from his teaching, his more than ten years at the Cincinnati Art Museum as art handler and exhibition installer, his desire to meld student and established artists; and his own experience as an artist. Thinking about space “goes back to exhibit designing at the Art Museum. The art handlers were all artists; we worked to professionalize our role. That was where I cut my teeth on thinking about space, rhythm, volume.”
For Manifest, he is able to plan shows digitally. “I can see how the rhythm works, how it will look across the room. . .we're very sensitive to works relating to one another. The show itself should be a work of art,” he says. “Principles of design apply.” Principles of design also are applied to the web site, www.manifestgallery.org. Attractive, informative, and easy to navigate, it's another instance of the gallery's technological sophistication.
If canny use of the internet has brought in entries from far-flung locations, the expense of shipping art from far away has had the serendipitous effect of making small works more likely to be proposed. This is ideal for two rooms cut out of a narrow one-time storefront and totaling 850 square feet.
Franz's art museum experience has indeed given him an eye for volume. The spectacular sculpture dominating the main gallery in 'Master Pieces' fits the space like a foot in a sock but embraces room for the viewer to move around it. A sinuous wave of curving plywood strips held together by steel pins, “Detour” by John Carrasco III stretches twenty feet from end to end, is five feet wide and four and a half feet tall, but has an openness that keeps menace from size at bay and doesn't distract from work on the walls. Carrasco's artist's statement says the piece represents both discord and harmony, an edgy proposition borne out in experiencing it.
Certain exhibition themes repeat from one year to another, giving continuity to what goes on in the “neighborhood gallery for the world.” The smaller of the two rooms was immediately named The Drawing Room, with the idea of frequent drawings shows, a proposition that has been fulfilled. Manifest's philosophy is strong on basics, and ranks drawing as basic to art as bones are to bodies.
The first season included 'Rites of Passage,' works of new graduates from regional schools, and 'Magnitude 7,' in which no work exceeded seven inches in any direction. Both concepts have reappeared in each subsequent season, 'Rites' expanding its range to entries from the entire country and accepting from current, immediately previous, and the following year's graduates. Another regular exhibition is “Selections from the INDA,” featuring artworks included in the gallery's yearly publication, International Drawing Annual Exhibit-in-Print. Each season also includes one-person shows and group shows with individual themes.
When we talked, the new season still was being formed. A record number of solo proposals 'has slowed our progress, in a good way!" Franz said. New versions of the annual exhibitions will appear, as well as shows with new themes. The formerly down period in late summer, filled this year by "Nude," will be incorporated in the 2009/10 schedule. Eight exhibit periods per year have been standard practice for the gallery, each with one larger or two smaller exhibitions shown for four weeks. The addition of the ninth period is possible only because the once completely volunteer effort has been able to add modestly paid staff.
In 2007 Tim Parsley, whose other part-time job is as lead artist for ArtWorks' MuralWorks projects, became Assistant Director. Franz continues to be volunteer executive director but is chief curator on a paid contractor basis, and of course carries a full teaching schedule at U.C. In fall, 2008, Laura McNeel came on as part time administrative assistant to keep the books, bringing experience from having worked at Enjoy the Arts.
“It's been a very important change, it helps us as an organization. Having Tim has made an immense difference. He brings rare qualities, a humane outlook, a background of maturity,“ Franz says. Franz and O'Kane, whose other-than-Manifest work is as Associate Professor of Design in U.C.'s School of Design, each continue as board members. The third original board member, , so important to the gallery's founding, earned her Master degree and is now director of Bradley University's art gallery. The board itself has expanded to six members, with newcomers whose skills are helpful to the growth of the organization.
Manifest continues to move ahead on other fronts. From the beginning a catalogue of each show has been published, providing permanent records of necessarily limited events. The International Annual Drawing Exhibit-in-Print publication, of course, turns that premise around, producing material from which a temporary show is developed.
Franz would like to see Manifest's publication program enlarge to include instructional books for artists. “Not how to sell your work, there are already plenty of books on that, but nuts and bolts on how to make a crate, for instance. And very importantly, how to pack art to ship.” The gallery, recipient of dozens of works each year, is acutely aware of artists' deficiencies in that skill. “Based on our exposure, this could be a huge market. It's not romantic, but we need to teach these folks how to handle their art.”
The other string to the Manifest bow is the studio. Classes are held throughout the year, under professional artist/instructors, with an emphasis on drawing. “It's important for us to think how we relate to schools,” Franz says. “We don't replace what any college does, although some students come because their own school's curriculum doesn't include subjects we offer. We want to stand for the validity of art, not for frivolous ends. Students should take art seriously. We are taking a stand to the public that art is important, a career in art is important. I think many voices need to say that to the public, and we are one of those voices.”
He would like to have the studio space, now in Essex Studios at 2511 Essex Place a mile or so away, nearer to the gallery. “We need a big space, thirty feet by fifty feet or so. It's a challenge.” He feels they have yet to work out how to market the studio. “It feels secondary to the gallery, but deserves to be equally treated. We want to invest time in refining that. Subtle adjustments need to be made. Should we award a certificate? People would like that, they take it seriously.”
This being 2009, I need to ask if the economic situation is a disturbing factor for Manifest's future. “Not as much as for some,” he replies. “Donations have grown, although less than we had hoped. We need to find other ways to make ends meet. Studio enrollment is up by thirty-five percent, attendance by eighteen percent. We have to figure out how to bring in more money without having a bake sale.” He seems to feel they can do that.
I also ask what he would like to have happen for Manifest? “More space. We don't want a huge gallery, but would like room for more solo shows, a way in which we could accept a hundred instead of thirty works out of those submitted for a show.”
We've been talking in the quiet of a Monday, and as I rise to leave I thank Jason for coming in on a day when the gallery is closed and he might not need to be there. “I'm actually not here very much,” he says. “I do most of my work from home. But it's all right. I like to be here.”
We move slowly toward the door, looking at 'Master Pieces' and talking of the way the works go together. Of course he likes to be here. So do I.
