JoJo Abell
Columbus Art Gallery
I recently visited the Columbus Art Gallery. It is located on Columbus avenue between 88th street and 89th street on the Upper West SideofManhattan. The gallery is tucked between a nail salon and a space used for kickboxing and martial arts lessons. It is not the only art space on the block though. If you walk down 88th or 89th street, you will come across a small tulip garden between the buildings. Occasionally in the garden, a theater group will put on plays, like “The Tempest” by Shakespeare. Even though I visit the garden and used to walk past the Columbus Art Gallery on my way to school, I don’t usually go inside — actually, this was probably only the second time I have visited — even though I liked the colorful window displays of a variety of framed artworks. The store is primarily a custom framing store, which is part of the reason I have never visited, but they are not only focused on framing art. They sell and display art made by local artists. By doing this, they provide a space for art, which both benefits the artists and people like me living in the area.
As I walk in, the store has nobody in it. I can not call it empty though, because the walls (like the storefront) are crowded with assorted artworks and samples of a variety of sizes, colors, and materials for frames. The art itself is made with a variety of mediums including oil paintings, posters, lithographs, serigraphs, and more. All of this gives the small space so much texture 
and color — both in a literal and figurative way. There is a lot to look at. Despite the loudness of the place visually, the store is quiet. The quietness and the lack of people might be partially caused by covid-19 and the fact that the gallery only opened half an hour ago, but I am not sure because I can not remember what it was like when I went there before (it was a long time ago). Because I can not remember exactly what it was like when I walked in there a couple years ago, I have no sense of how much turnover there is in the art displayed — judging purely off my impression of the gallery, I would guess that there is not a significant amount of change in the artwork they show.
The store is easy to navigate because it is so small, but it is not very organized; the space is a little cluttered, but in a good and interesting way. It reminds me of a thrift store, an antique store, or a flea market type space in that way. It makes me feel a little excited because I do not know what style of painting I will see next. Even when I see the paintings, I do not know a lot about them because there is not a lot of information readily available. The one staff member I see seems reasonably friendly, but being the slightly shy and awkward person that I am, I can not muster the courage to ask them about anything.
My experience there was nothing like the art spaces I have learned about. It is a very small and local space — nobody would wait outside excitedly
for it to open in the morning (unless they needed a frame from there very badly). Another difference is that it is not at all formal; for example, they do not hold big events, it would be very strange to arrive there in formal attire, well known or successful art dealers or buyers would (probably) never go there, etc. Unlike the galleries I learned about, the room is not a blank white cube with carefully curated and placed art. There are many different styles of art all placed (in what seems like a seems like a random order) on the walls. Even though the materials and styles of art are different, the artworks are all pretty small — they are not like the mostly giant pieces sold at big galleries or auctions. Also, they are not extremely expensive. They are not selling for hundreds of dollars. However, the biggest difference is that the Columbus Art Gallery is not specifically focused on investing in art and artists; the art is there almost as a side business to the frames.
In almost every way, the Columbus Art Gallery was nothing like the art spaces I usually visit. Because I live in New York City, I have access to spaces like the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guegenheim, and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as larger galleries around the city. The Columbus Art Gallery had a very different viewing experience from these other places, and it was fun to see art displayed in different ways though I prefer the experience of the larger galleries and museums. I decided not to go to a place like one of these because I have seen them a lot, and because I wanted to visit a gallery in my neighborhood. I am going to explore more local art so I can find new ways of viewing art and the city I live in.