Real Estate in downtown Charlottesville is pricy, and that makes it hard for certain businesses to locate there – among them, art galleries. Deborah McLeod has occupied eight different spaces in the last decade – moving from one to the next as landlords found wealthier tenants. Now, however, she may be home – in a tiny, windowless room.
When the Chroma Gallery lost its last lease on Water Street, owner Deborah McLeod wandered into the former Bank of America building on the downtown mall – a charming place of granite, marble and glass. The new owner was converting it into an elegant steak house with offices above for start-ups, and he offered McLeod what was once the vault – just seven by 17 feet.
“I pulled up the carpeting that was here. I repainted it gray, so it kind of doesn’t feel as small as it is, because you just lose the walls, and it makes things – you experience them on an intimate level, much more so than you do in a great big white space.”
She rewired the room, adding track lighting:
“I love the lights because, as a five-foot-four person, I can just reach up and move the lighting around.”
And she began hosting monthly openings that were not easy to find.
“Google never forgets anything, so all of the other addresses I’ve had as a pop up are all on Google somewhere.”
This Saturday she’ll break out to host FLOW – the annual art show in Darden Towe Park, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., featuring fine art, music, dance, tree tours and the Rivanna River. But a week later, she’ll be back in the vault.
“First child, Capricorn, born on a Thursday. What can I do?" she says with a shrug. When that statement provokes a puzzled stare, McLeod explains. "I have no idea what any of that means. Well Thursday’s child has far to go. I’m the eldest child. They’re always the most headstrong, and the symbol of a Capricorn is a goat that climbs to the top of the hill.”
