By Jill Nagy
Cynthia Romano had her eye on space in the basement of a new shopping center. She thought it would make a nice artist’s studio.
Then, the idea “just grew,” and she is now developing a gallery, a studio, and a teaching area at Rexford Landing, a shopping center that her husband, Bob Romano, is building on Grooms Road in Rexford.
The business will be called the Blooming Artist.
“It’s going well but everything takes so much time,” Romano said, but “I am not rushing to open.” For one thing, she would like a pre-COVID style opening with live people walking around and socializing. She is aiming for a June opening date.
The gallery itself will be on the main floor of the building. She foresees exhibiting the work of six or seven established local artists at a time in the main gallery. Work by other, “up and coming,” artists will be hung in the lobby. For opening receptions, Romano will open the doors between the gallery and the lobby. How often to change shows is, she said, “a big question.” For now, she contemplates keeping each show up for four to six weeks and then closing down for two weeks to freshen up the space and hang the next show.
A second floor room with a huge picture window will, at her husband’s suggestion, be devoted to painting and pottery classes. She also plans a framing studio in that space and a shop selling specialized art supplies.
Romano herself is both an artist and a teacher. She is especially proud of the work she did in a low-income community on Long Island where she taught high school art and college preparation classes. She helped students develop their portfolios and navigate the college admissions and scholarship maze.
She has also taught in capital area high schools and at adult programs, including one at Coburg Village, a senior living development across Grooms Road from Rexford Landing. The Coburg Village group presented a bit of a challenge, she recalled, because some of them did not think they had any need for a teacher; they just wanted to be left alone to create art.
Romano is a bit overwhelmed by the long list of chores involved in opening her business. For example, she needs a printer to create the invitations she envisions for her shows—invitations on paper to be sent through the mail. She also began to create a website that she envisions as “more of a community thing.”
Her 24-year-old son, Dominick, volunteered to help with that project. (The Romanos also have a daughter, Natalia, a medical student temporarily at home studying for her board exams.)
She is also a little nervous because, “I’m going to have to pick and choose a little bit,” something she finds hard. She plans to show the work of local artists, many whom she knows from her participation in Local Color, a now defunct co-operative. She may bring in outside experts to help judge entries for her shows.
As she makes her plans, Romano remembers the advice of a friend: “The community is going to show you how to go.”
The shopping center itself is “coming along,” Romano observed. Her gallery will have an Italian deli on one side and a bistro with indoor and outdoor dining on the other. “We really desperately need a really nice restaurant with a bar,” she commented. A periodontist will probably move in upstairs and there are two more spaces available.
The center is at 675 Grooms Road in Rexford. The telephone for the shopping center is 518 322-7899.