>>It's really
important to slow down

in a world that's so busy

that you feel like there's
no time to appreciate art.

But, art in any form,
visual art, music, poetry,

is something that
if you take it in,

then it definitely gives
you something back.

>>Today we're going to visit

one of the oldest contemporary
art spaces in the country.

Join us as we visit
Second Street Gallery,

a non-profit organization
dedicated to inspiring new ways

of thinking, seeing,
and doing through art.

Come on!

>>Well, Second Street
Gallery started in 1973

by a group of artists
here in Charlottesville

at a small space
on Second Street

but the other side
of the Downtown Mall.

And they started to be a
place to show contemporary art

and to show their own work
and the work of other people.

Since then, we
moved to McGuffey,

well I say we, I wasn't
there for this (laughs)

but, they moved to McGuffey
Arts Center for a long time.

And then moved here to the
building that was built in 2004.

>>So, talk about the mission.

Talk about the goals
of the gallery.

>>Well, we have a few.

I mean, our main mission is to

bring the best of contemporary
art from around the world

to right here to
Charlottesville.

We show contemporary work.

So its work from living artists,

by people who are making work.

I think about it as the
first draft of art history.

>>Oh, that's great.

>>It's like a museum
already has the work

that's been digested by
the culture a little bit.

We're just showing the work that

people sometimes have
made the week before.

So, we're showing work
that is brand new.

We also take that work

and try to get that spirit
out into the community.

So, we have a lot of
outreach programs for adults

and a lot of them for kids.

So, we bring artists
into schools,

into the Boys And Girls
Club, into various places

trying to get them interested
in what we are doing with art,

and make art seem like
an important thing

for all of us to see
and participate in.

>>And one of the
other events you do,

aside from having exhibitions,

you have other events,
musical events.

You have a really great series
called Brews With A View.

What is that about?

>>Yes, so we do a fundraiser

throughout the late
spring and summer,

and into the fall,

which is on the rooftop
deck of our building.

And we have bands play

and we have beer there
for people to come

and it's like a big party.

>>And you can hear it

when you're walking on the mall,

and you think what am I
missing, where should I be?

>>Yeah, it's one of the great...

I mean one of the great
things about Charlottesville

that I loved since I moved here,

is that idea that
art, and music, and
culture is everywhere.

So, we want people to feel like

Second Street Gallery
is their gallery.

I mean, it's not something
that is just for certain people

or people who are very
educated or whatever.

>>Exactly, so definitely,

because some people
will avoid galleries

because they're intimidated.

They think, "Oh, I don't know
anything about art.", but--

>>And I totally understand that.

But I think that, I
hope that people...

One of my jobs is
convince people

that they can let that go.

I understand where
they are coming from

but we all make aesthetic
decisions in our lives

all the time.

We pick what music
we like, what shoes,

what clothes we're gonna wear.

We know what we like,

and you can walk into a gallery

and make those same decisions.

Oh, I like this,
I don't like this.

You don't have to
be super educated.

So, for instance with music,

I don't know everything
about music theory

or music history or
things like that,

but I know what I
like to listen to.

And I know the other stuff,

It's fine, its not for me,

I don't have to say
it's bad or anything.

>>Right.
>>It's not for me.

And I think when it
comes to visual arts

it can be very intimidating,

"I've got to know the
whole history of this.",

but really you don't.

You should walk in

and think about your own
relationship with it.

Do I like this or not?

You can read what's on the wall,

you can talk to us in the
gallery or to your friends,

and maybe learn more and get
more out of what you're seeing.

But in the end, it's your
relationship with it,

and that's just as important

as the most highfalutin art
history professor's relationship

with it as well.

It's our culture,
it's for all of us.

Especially contemporary work,

where the judgment of
history hasn't been made yet,

and so you're part of that.

So, I think more often than not

you're gonna be
engaged and enlightened

and find different ways
of thinking about things.

>>Yeah, well, and talk
about the exhibit,

the exhibition
that's here today.

>>Yeah, so we have
the work right now

of the artist Siemon Allen.

He's from South Africa, and he
has collected over ten years,

thousands and thousands of
albums of South African music.

The exhibition we have is,

he scanned the labels
of those albums,

and put them together in
this beautiful curtain,

in this immersive environment
that you can walk through.

It's a whole history
of a century-plus

of South African music.

So, there will be albums by

all kinds of South
African artists.

From hip-hop artists
towards the end to jazz.

There's some albums of
speeches by famous people,

there's rock-n-roll,
there's everything.

And as you walk through it,

you can see both the
history of graphic design,

going from a hundred
years ago to now.

But, you can also see
as the culture changed,

as the different culture,
the Afrikaans culture,

the Native culture,
the English culture,

as they worked with each other

to make a unique
South African culture.

Music is a great, I
think, vector for that.

>>And in the background
what are you hearing?

>>Oh, right!

And so we have playing music.

So, Simeon gave us an
iPad full of music.

He said over the six
week run of the show

we're never gonna hear
the same song twice.

>>Six weeks?

>>Yeah, so it's over
six weeks of music.

(both laughing)

So, we love it.

In the gallery we're
hearing it all of the time.

So one minute, we'll
hear a hip-hop song,

like I was saying before,

and the next minute we'll hear
a hundred year old jazz song

that's all scratchy
that he digitized.

And the next minute
we'll hear a speech

or a rock-n-roll song
and so you start to begin

to hear as well as see
the breadth of the culture

of this one country.

And for him, I
asked him this this.

You know, he said, "Yeah,
its an act of love."

It's a love for his culture

and wanting to hold on
to some of the things

that are unique to that.

♪ Soweto ♪

>>We do about ten shows a year.

One of the things
that really excites me

is to bring work here
that may not be seen

if it's not in our space.

Over the years,

we've had a number of
artists who are local heroes

and then also very widely known.

And then some very widely
known local heroes.

So, through "Look 3"
we've had Sally Mann,

Gregory Crewdson, Dean Dass,

who is definitely a
favorite in this community.

Robb Tarbell, Amy Sherald,
who is a rising star,

whose work is to be
absolutely looked for

in a number of fora.

And then artists who
may not be known yet,

but are definitely
people to look out for

in the coming years.

>>Now you're an artist,

you're also the
executive director here.

So, talk a little bit about
your role as an artist

and then how it helps you here.

>>Yeah, so this space
was started by artists

and it's artists-run now.

The previous director
was also an artist.

My history as an artist.

So, I have shown here,
I have curated here,

I have seen this as a resource,

both as an audience
member to come in

and meet other artists and
see the work they're doing.

And again, see work in this
space that I wouldn't see

unless I was in New
York or London or--

>>And your art has been
in all of these places.

We need to say that too.

>>Yeah, yeah, I have shown
all those places right, right.

But I think as an artist,

what I can bring to this is,

both a relationship to
how the space works,

and how important
it is to artists.

I mean, we work really hard
to support our artists,

to help them pay for
shipping, to get them here,

to get them hotel rooms,
to pay them honorariums.

We do a lot of things

that a lot of other non-profits
spaces aren't able to do.

I mean, that's because
of the sponsorship

and the donations we get from
the people in my community.

We wanna treat
the artists right.

So, that part of it

really helps us to also
have a good reputation

and get artists of a
much bigger caliber.

For instance, Simeon Allen,

the piece that we have here

was shown in the Venice
Biennale in 2011.

That's a big
international art fair,

probably the most famous one.

This has never been shown
in the United States before,

and we have it right
here in Charlottesville!

>>And its right here!

>>And this is the kind of thing

that happens again
and again here.

We get people in to this
space that are huge,

and I'm shocked that we can
get, (laughs) it's great.

>>And you know, Charlottesville,

it's not just that
it's a cultural town,

and that we want to support
it, because we love the arts,

but the arts really
help our city.

>>Yeah, yeah, there is a--

>>There's been a study, the PCA.

>>The Piedmont Council of
the Arts did a cultural plan,

a couple of years ago,

that looked at what the
economic benefit is of,

among other things,

what the economic benefit is

of all the cultural
organizations here in town.

And it's significant.

I mean, this idea, not
only of the actual dollars,

but making a place where

people who are going
to solve problems,

who are going to make
Charlottesville a better place,

to attract them and
keep them there,

is one thing that
cultural organizations do.

So it's hard sometimes to
quantify that, I think,

into a dollars and cents thing,

but I think when you sit
back and really look at it.

I know for me, I've stayed
in Charlottesville partly

because it's a great
cultural place.

I can go see plays,
I can see films,

I can go to the festival, all
of the festivals that we have.

Of course I can see
great art as well.

>>So, here with me to my right

is a photographic
installation with sound,

by an artist name Mai Al Shazly,

and Mai is visiting from Cairo.

So ,when you think
about things like

presenting a woman whose
head is not covered,

or the way that this headscarf
may be very contemporary

in relation to what
one may think of

as a more traditional hijab.

There's a way that she's
emphasizing the identity

of each of her sitters.

But then, she's also
emphasizing a lyricism,

and a cosmopolitan
characteristic

of each of the people that is
portrayed in her photography.

>>So, if somebody
wants to get involved

with Second Street Gallery,

there're a lot of different ways

that you can become a part of
it and support the gallery.

How do you do that?

>>Yeah, so the first
thing you should do

is come in and see a show.

We have free admission
all of the time.

We're open Tuesday through
Saturday, 11 to six.

Come in, talk to us,
bring your friends,

argue about the work (laughs).

Whatever you wanna do.

That's the number one thing.

And I want to make
sure everyone knows

it's free to get in,
and we want you here.

We also love for
people to volunteer.

We need people,

everything from helping
artists to hanging work.

In which case you get
to work with the artist.

>>Ooo, that's cool.

>>Gallery sitting on a
Saturday so we can stay open.

Helping us at events.

Then of course, we want
people to join as members,

and we want people to
donate to the gallery.

We rely on sponsorships
and donations

to keep this thing going.

And so we're really grateful

for all of the support
we've gotten over the years

from a wide range of
people in the community,

and we'd love for other people

to come and help us in that way.

(machine drilling)

>>There's one thing
that's really fun

about this space is that
it's incredibly flexible.

And so if you come one
month to see a show,

then you absolutely must come
back later in the season,

because the space will
be totally re-invented.

So, even if you don't
know anything about art,

these types of
reciprocal experiences,

supporting local artists,

even if it's just coming
in and sitting on the couch

and taking a moment
out of your day

to see that type of creativity
growing is really important.

(jazz music)