A politely put, “good luck” followed by a short little laugh is probably one of the nicer responses you’ll receive after telling someone about your big plans of opening an art gallery. Just like artists, galleries have a difficult time attracting and maintaining a clientele in a smaller population center such as Salt Lake.

But for twenty years now, the Salt Lake Gallery Association has consisted of galleries that endure these challenges in good economic times and bad. If competing with other galleries weren’t enough, retail art galleries compete with non-profit galleries that may not be under the same restrictions. Retail galleries depend on the sale of artwork alone to support rent, overhead, advertising and staff while non-profits can depend on state and federal funding along with donations and grants.

The Salt Lake Gallery Association now includes twenty-one retail galleries, seven non-profit galleries, eight affiliate galleries (businesses that host exhibits) and one open studios gallery. Ironically, it was a controversy between the retail galleries and the non-profits that motivated the organization of what is now known as the Salt Lake Gallery Association.

In 1983 the SLGA was born under the name of “the Utah Art Dealers Association.” In the beginning, it consisted of strictly for-profit retail galleries in both Salt Lake and Park City. The first members were Dolores Chase Fine Art, David Ericson Fine Art, Phillips Gallery, Meyer Gallery and many more, some of which closed down or are no longer with us.

The union of these galleries was triggered by what they believed to be unfair dealings being made by the Salt Lake Art Center – a not-for-profit organization. The Utah Art Dealers Association argued that the SLAC’s sale of artwork to corporate entities was done in a manner that violated the regulations placed on organizations with non-profit status, putting them in direct competition with retail galleries in the surrounding area. In the meantime, the Salt Lake Art Center was fighting for its very survival. Directors and board members were approached, issues were discussed, compromises were made and it wasn’t long before the Salt Lake Art Center and retail galleries were able to cohabitate in harmony once again.