”Art,” that vague, all-encompassing word that basically refers to the byproducts of the soul`s longings, would seem to have little to do with the word ”business,” another vague, all-encompassing word that refers to the soul`s desire to acquire.
But the two can be married, and if Tom Hilligoss is right, he just might have proved himself to be one heck of a matchmaker.
New to the 19th Century-like landscape of Hilligoss` business neighborhood is his Studio of Long Grove, a blend of something old and something new. He took the Studio in the Woods, a 23-year-old art school formerly in Wauconda, added a gallery and, voila, he had the new entity. The way things are going, he`s already confident that this could be a masterpiece.
Here is where he thinks the magic lies: ”to have a gallery that is dealing with world-class artists, with a school that would be attracting workshops taught by those world-class artists.”
The net result is that regional artists, even beginners, get a chance to rub palettes with the best of the best.
Since opening the studio in September, Hilligoss has won some hearts.
”I`ve been astounded that something (like the studio) has not been done before in the Midwest,” said Irving Shapiro, a Highland Park watercolorist whose works hang in major collections across the country and who has conducted some workshops for Hilligoss. Shapiro also formerly directed the American Academy of Art, a school in Chicago. ”Tom is definitely going to make a pronounced mark on the art world,” he predicted. ”This is not only welcome but overdue.”
Robin Piercy, director of wholesale sales and marketing for Aaron Fine Art Gallery in Baltimore, visited the studio recently and commented: ”It`s one of the most beautiful galleries I`ve ever seen. It would be enough to just walk through the building, and then you see those beautiful paintings.”
Hilligoss tends to favor representational and impressionistic works, the kind most people feel comfortable with. His gallery features established international artists such as Roy Fairchild, Bernard Gantner, Bernie Fuchs, Lu Hong and Tarkay; also emerging artists such as former student Diane Fedyna of Lake Geneva, Wis.
As for the building itself, it replicates in part the old Studio in the Woods barn-the raw wood floors have been carefully distressed and preserved under a layer of polyurethane-and brings it together with a circular gallery patterned after the living room of Hilligoss` Wauconda house, whose arched beams were salvaged from a whaling ship. The result is a curious but appealing configuration of flowing spaces that invite the visitor to step up, step down and have a look around.
”He`s certainly put an awful lot of money into the studio,” said Long Grove businessman John Mangel. ”It`s fabulous. I don`t think it can do anything but help the village.”
Money? How much money did Hilligoss put into the place? His answer is about $1 million, but you get the idea that maybe he`s being a bit
conservative.
And on the money issue, a person might wonder how the whole thing is faring when red would seem to be a more predominant color than black in these recessionary times.
”Terrific,” Hilligoss said. ”As far as I`m concerned, if the recession is holding things back, then look out world. We`ve got a real superstar here.” Gallery sales for February exceeded December, the bread-and-butter month for retailers.
That doesn`t mean the studio has Hilligoss rolling in dough yet. As he acknowledged, starting any business is a costly matter, and the break-even Point can be hard to reach, but he hinted that he`s on the verge of going into the black..
Yet Hilligoss exudes the confidence of a marketing veteran, which he is. His first high point was as head of advertising, marketing and public relations for the Bloomington (Ill.) Federal Savings and Loan. From there he moved into his own ad business, then into children`s publishing, which 12 years ago led to creation of the Design House, a design venture in which Hilligoss hired artists to carry out his ideas for toys-one was the Kindles line of dolls and accessories-gifts, packaging and the like. By that point he was living in Barrington Hills, where the Design House was based.
Three years ago Hilligoss and wife Dianne bought a house in Wauconda. The property included a barn that was home to the original Studio in the Woods art school. Though Hilligoss had intended to convert the barn into offices for his design business, the school`s founder, Bonnie Anderson of Inverness, persuaded otherwise.
”She said the studio practically ran itself,” Hilligoss said. He bought the school from her with the understanding that he would continue its operation.
Hilligoss was quick to recognize the potential that existed, quite literally, in his own back yard. Within two weeks of moving in, he had organized an exhibition of paintings by 20 Midwestern artists, Irving Shapiro among them, and held it in the great room of his new home.
Encouraged by the public`s response, he held another show two months later and began planning a way to combine the school and the gallery into a fine-arts center. His philosophy, he explained, was to teach basic arts skills in an environment where the students are surrounded by beautiful works presented in a way that would inspire them.
Months of market research led him to the decision to relocate the studio to the more centrally situated Long Grove, an area convenient to the existing clientele in Wauconda but also to the heavy population centers of northern Cook County. Because no suitable structure existed there to house the business, the hybrid of a rustic barn and elegant country house was built from a design by Hilligoss and one of his three grown sons, Rick, an architect.
To gather intelligence for his venture, Hilligoss hit the gallery circuit, attending art expos in New York and California, ”getting intensely interested in the marketing of art,” as he put it, and having at least a casual if not a major interest in certain artists and following their careers. ”Tastes in fine art change,” he said. ”You use your own judgment and hope it`s in synch.”
One artist whose floral compositions have met with spectacular success through the studio is Long Grove resident Sheri Meketa. Describing her palette knife technique as aggressive and her paintings as almost carved, the Texas-born Meketa said, ”They sell just as fast as I can get them over there, which is wonderful.”
Given his promotional bent, Hilligoss knows a few things about presentation. To keep the focus on the paintings, he had the gallery walls covered in black fabric that absorbs excess light. He encouraged artist Michael Gerry of central Illinois to paint to the very edges of his canvas so the stunning, larger-than-life florals could be mounted atop the frame instead of beneath it. ”I love innovative framing that looks as if it`s part of the painting,” Hilligoss said. ”It`s not just a painting in a frame.” Custom framing, done on premises, is a significant part of the business.
Recently, Hilligoss acquired a stone-litho press, which will allow him to take the studio in yet another direction: publishing limited-edition fine-arts prints. As it is, it is theoretically possible for an individual to take instruction, buy supplies, complete the work, frame and sell it without leaving the building.
Student shows occur regularly, along with the dozens of day and evening classes that include not only painting and sculpture but also calligraphy, printmaking, photography, illustration, stained-glass making and basket weaving. Student enrollment runs at about 300 total, with instructors numbering in the mid-20s, fluctuating with demand and their availability.
Hilligoss has organized the Professional Artists Association to bring together in the studio academy people with an art background who would benefit from working together. ”What does the artist do when he graduates from the Art Institute or the American Academy?” he asked. ”That`s where we come in.”
The weekly PAA sessions are uninstructed and generally feature a live, nude or costumed model or a still life. ”Professional painters feel a need to paint from life,” Hilligoss said.
For Pat Mead of Barrington Hills, already an accomplished artist with a show coming up at the Barrington Area Arts Council gallery, the studio in general and instructor Shapiro in particular help keep the creativity flowing. ”He is a real inspiration,” she said of Shapiro, adding that she attended his workshop because ”you never stop learning.”
”For me, it`s like being accepted into a different world,” said Eleonore Bock, a grandmotherly student from Buffalo Grove who started painting five years ago and has had her work displayed in a Lake Zurich gallery. ”It`s a thrill to be here.”
So here we have it: Hilligoss, a self-avowed marketeer through and through, providing a haven for the human soul, inspiration to artistic hands. He must be a frustrated artist who simply channeled his energy into business, right?
Wrong. ”I guess I`m just more of a businessman with a love for art,” he said. It`s not that he thinks he is devoid of any artistic ability himself. After all, he always has been talented enough to doodle his thoughts out on paper so artists could figure out what he wanted to accomplish. He probably just won`t have a chance to work on his own skills until ”I get off these 80- hour work weeks.”
As with any marriage, you have to work on it. And art and business are no different.
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British artist Roy Fairchild visits the Studio of Long Grove March 14 for his first Midwestern showing. High tea will be served from 2 to 4 p.m., and an evening reception will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Phone 708-634-4244.
