Less Art For Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor is about to lose one of its few fine art outlets - the current exhibit at the Rebecca Berman Pelletier Gallery (at 414 Detroit St. next to Zingerman's, near Kerrytown) may be the last. The gallery will stay open, but future shows will retreat from the front lines of art to more reliable commercial territory. The next show will be a Holiday Gift Show. In the future Pelletier will not do gallery-style exhibits of paintings and such, but will concéntrate on selling furniture by top designers from France and Italy, as well as glasswork, jewelry and the like. Fine art will still be available, such as the MoholyNagy photographs exhibited earlier this year, but Pelletier is giving up her main exhibit space. As of this month Art Deco Design Studio is moving from its Washington St. storefront to the front room of the Berman Pelletier Gallery , where it will continue to sell 1 920s-1 950s glass, jewelry and fumishings. Art Deco owner Constance Bassil will share duties with Ms. Pelletier in watching both of their shops. The delicious little shows in Berman Pelletier Gallery have been a highlight of Ann Arbor's art scène, with their eclectic range and lively opening receptions. Work from France, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy and all over USA has been displayed. The Moholy-Nagy show was a high point, as it brought people from all over the US and Europe to see new prints by this major Bauhaus figure. Nagy's daughter made many plates and negatives available to Pelletier, including images that had never been printed before. This show also incorporated Herman Miller furniture from Art Deco, and brought Bassil and Pelletier together for the first time. Everyone seems disappointed when Pelletier tells them of the cutbacks, but she says "people don't realize how much money and effort it takes to keep doing these shows. It's at least $10,000 a month to keep the place open, and there is so linie support for independent galleries in Ann Arbor." People may think the gallery exists only through art sales, but Pelletier's outside work with fumiture makers and designers has been a great help. The small house directly next to Zingerman's Delicatessen is also Pelletier's home. Receptions center on her spacious industriallyequipped kitchen, and every well-considered detail of her house is exposed to public view. Between watching the gallery during open hours, outside projects, and caring for her galleryhome with its small but elabórate I garden Pelletier has been too busy. "This summer I sometimes got up at 4 am to have time to work on the garden." Pelletier has put a lot of her personal energy into the whole environment, and she feels that when people buy something they are taking something special, not just an object but her energy and the energy of the artist. A number of people have been extremely supportive in keeping it going to this point - family, artists and helpers as well as customers. But enough replenishing energy - i.e. sales - hasn't come back from the community. Pelletier deserves our thanks for staying with it till now. ■ mliWilíR]