NEW AKRON ART GALLERY

1474 Art Inc. Offers Akron a New Space to Appreciate Art

BY: ABBEY BASHOR FOR TDS

One morning, when Sekoya Kendrick was in high school, a friend sketched her a drawing. Kendrick sold the sketch for $25 by lunch.

She told her friend that she would split the profit with him and he jokingly replied that she could sell anything.

“I wish I would’ve known back then that that was what I was supposed to be doing all along,” she says.

Kendrick spent several years working in sales and marketing before making the decision to open her own online art gallery in 2018. She named her business 1474 Art Inc., which symbolizes important numbers in Kendrick’s life. “14” is the year that she first came up with her artistic vision and “74” is a tribute to the birth year of her late brother, who inspired her to follow her dreams.

Having loved creative expression from a young age, she recalls the relief that art would bring to her during typical 9 to 5 jobs. “On a lunch break or over the weekend, I would always go to a museum and that would be therapeutic for me,” she says.

Kendrick’s love of travel inspired her to open a gallery online so that she could continue to meet artists wherever she went without needing to stay put in one place. She would seek out and work with five to seven artists at a time, helping them determine their marketing needs and providing an online space to showcase their work.

As she continued to build an online presence, Kendrick also began hosting art exhibits at different venues in the Akron community. Attendees and friends would rave about her events and ask her when the next one would be. She realized that she could save on expenses by having her own space.

Kendrick soon came across an available space at 1947 West Market St., which is home to other businesses including South Point Tavern and Niko’s Sandwich Board. She remembers loving the area and realizing that the traffic would be great for bringing in visitors. After working out a deal, she began renovations to match the vision of her gallery.

“I think getting this brick and mortar was what I needed to get me where I wanted to be,” she says.

To fill the space with artists, she translated much of the work she did with her online gallery over to the physical gallery.

“My job is to basically seek out artists, find their niche and what they’re missing in their career,” she explains. “I help them find their target market, set up their personal art exhibits, their pricing, you name it. And every contract with each of my artists is custom because one artist might not need the same thing as another artist.”

With the gallery space, artists can use the venue to create and host private showings while Kendrick will promote their work at other art events and among her portfolio of clientele. “I do a lot of the back-end work. I tell them their goal is to just be creative.”

Kendrick meets many of the artists she works with through networking and word of mouth. “I’m always looking for artists,” she says. “Whether I’m on social media or at an event, [searching for artists] keeps me inspired and helps me find my clients. Art is my passion, so it’s fun to do.”

1474 currently has 10 different local and national artists displaying their work. Kendrick says she is always trying to build her portfolio with more local artists, who she’ll often meet by chance. She even met one of her current clients while sitting at the bar at Ken Stewart’s Grille.

“I’m big on relationship building,” she says. “I set my mission around that. I want my artists to feel comfortable and know that I’m actually here for them.” “I want as many people to know about my space as possible, and know how they can use this space. I want to partner with as many art organizations as I can to see how we can actually help each other.”

When it comes to the value of having physical spaces dedicated to art, Kendrick is reminded of how grounding in-person galleries can be.

“In modern times, social media has taken a sweep of everything, and it’s always good to go back to your roots,” she says. “With an actual gallery or museum, it brings you back to square one. It lets you see [the art], feel it and create an understanding.”

Bringing art awareness to the Akron community is something that Kendrick hopes to do with 1474. She says that she’s proud of the progression that art has made in Akron, pointing to the murals that cover the downtown area and the work displayed at The East End.

“So much of our community is creative and has some type of artistic value,” she says. “I think this is a perfect time for artists and curators to make our city pop.”

Kendrick hopes that at the very least, her gallery and the art within it can provide a sense of relief.

“Everything else is so chaotic all the time. Art is supposed to be a breath of fresh air. I wanted to bring that to as many people as possible.”

To learn more about 1474 Art Inc. or to connect with Sekoya Kendrick, visit www.1474artinc.com.

Abbey Bashor is a freelance writer in Akron.

The gallery at 1474 Art Inc at at 1947 West Market St. in North West Akron