The concept

In early April, Grove Gallery Co-op was nearly empty and only a couple of artists had started setting up shop, but Jenny Schumaker, a textile artist who focuses on weaving and beading, said the group plans to open May 1 and have a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 4.

Made up of eight artists, Grove’s cooperative status will set it apart from other galleries because all artists will have a say in how it operates.

“(We’ll vote on) mundane things like (gallery) hours, divvying up duties — sharing responsibilities for everything we do,” said MargaBeth Cibulka, an artist whose art pieces are made from melting and fusing glass.

The idea for the cooperative originated with Nancy McRay, whose store — Woven Art Yarn & Fiber Gallery, 325B Grove St. — is right next to the co-op.

“I had the idea in my head for a long time,” McRay said.

“I always thought East Lansing needed more of an artist presence that was artist-driven, not gallery-driven.”

Her vision started to become a reality last September, when she talked to a city official and said the space next door would be a perfect location.

McRay, along with Leslie Donaldson of the Arts Council of Greater Lansing and local artist Katerina Emmons, handpicked eight artists to join the co-op.

Of the eight, six will have studio space in the building and two will work off-site, but all have their artwork displayed inside.

The on-site artists will pay $300 per month for their studio space, and off-site artists will pay $50 per month to show their work.

Co-op manager and studio artist Jillian Stapleton said the cost is much lower than it normally would be to rent studio space, noting that art is an expensive craft.

“(Being in the co-op) definitely is more economical for artists,” she said.

While a couple of artists’ spaces are complete rooms, others are divided by walls only a few feet high.

Stapleton said artists’ rent money and 10 percent commission from work sold at the gallery will pay for co-op costs.

“We’re paying to sustain the facility,” she said.

“But we’re not paying in dues, we’re paying in profit.”

In addition to paying for building expenses, co-op members each will be required to work several hours per week in the front of the gallery to handle visitors and customers interested in buying the artists’ work, Schumaker said.

Mason resident Shelly Wilkinson, who does oil panting and pastel work, said the required gallery hours will keep her involved in the group.

“(I) will have some interaction with the on-site artists,” she said.

Another aspect of the co-op is that visitors will be able to watch the artists while they work in their spaces.

“(The artists will) be able to know each other and … have kind of a family around that and be able to invite people into that experience,” Schumaker said.

Opening doors to new opportunities

Schumaker, 26, who sells her work under the name Jenny Schu., said she had planned to study business in college before she realized the extent of her love for artwork and weaving.

“Art is something that people aren’t always encouraged to go into,” the 2004 University of Michigan graduate said. “You hear that throughout older generations where they went into business or medical or teaching because they could get a job and their parents wouldn’t pay for college if they went into art school, and they’re amazing artists later.”

Members such as Schumaker and Sharan Egan see the co-op as a potential step toward making art a full-time career.

“(I’ve been) taking weaving class and have been looking for ways to support myself as an artist, both in the process of being an artist as well as having the opportunity to show work,” said Egan, a fiber artist whose art includes painting fabrics, knitting and weaving.

Lansing resident Egan, who works for St. Gerard Parish in Lansing, said she thinks showing her work at the gallery will help get her name out into the public.

And after raising five children and doing work with her church, she said she now has more time on her hands to do just that.

“I’m looking forward to … being able to really develop the artistic vision and skills that I have,” she said.

But while Schumaker, who currently works full-time as an assistant manager at Aeropostale, said she hopes to make art a full-time career, she thinks working in the co-op will help keep her from making art only for production.

“I was taking up so much time trying to make things to make money,” Schumaker said. “Instead, this is gonna be more seeing what other people do to inspire me into pushing my art further.”

Stapleton said she is most looking forward to the community aspect of being in a co-op, partially because the artists can help one another to make their work more marketable.

“There’s more opportunity for critique or constructive criticism,” she said.

Even with all of the co-op members selling their work in the same space, Schumaker said she doesn’t think competition will be an issue among the artists because each person’s work is so unique.

“I think artists can be competitive in college when you first get in, but as you come out and go through college and whatnot, you learn to have a certain respect for the fact that people do a lot of different things,” she said.

Building a community

For all of the artists, belonging to a co-op will serve as a network and it also will allow them to get inspiration from one another.

Schumaker said she thinks it will be a positive alternative to having her own studio.

“You can have a studio and sit in it and work all day long,” she said.

“I personally would get stuck in a rut and do things repetitively, whereas you’re gonna be seeing a lot of different things going on in here and you’re gonna be able to talk to people about artwork and what they do and what they’re inspired by, and that affects my work, too.”

Stapleton said she’s looking forward to being able to ask the other artists for opinions of her work.

“One of the reasons that I joined was I enjoyed in college having the group of cubicles where people were working all the time, having that community,” she said.

“You get out of that and you’re kinda solo, like, ‘OK, I want somebody to look at this, but I want somebody who has skill, who has ability to see the things I want them to see.”

Stapleton said the input will help her make sure her pieces are going in the right direction.

Cibulka said being part of a co-op will influence her art and hopefully inspire her to do more work.

“Artists tend to be hermits who work by themselves,” Cibulka said.

“That’s OK for a while, but that’s not good for a long time.”

The co-op members said they hope the gallery will have a positive relationship with the city.

“The communication between us and the city up until now has been wonderful and I assume it’ll only get better,” Cibulka said.

She said the city also allowed the co-op members to borrow money for start-up funds.

Egan said she wants Grove Gallery Co-op to be known throughout the city.

“I hope that the residents of East Lansing and visitors … will see us as a good venue to experience a variety of different kinds of art, along with the many well-established galleries in the Lansing and East Lansing area,” Egan said.