We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Pfalzgraf a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Daniel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?

For the past handful of years, I have been a gallery owner, earning a living from my creative work, as well as helping others earn a living from our work together. I recently turned 50 years old, so on some level, I wish that I could have sped up the process to get me to where I am sooner. But in some way, I don’t know if that would have been possible, at least not without me knowing everything I needed to know to be comfortably solid in my place here and now, not wondering, “what if I had done this instead.”

My journey started as an artist. That’s what I went to school for. Knowing that once I graduated, I wouldn’t be able to support myself as a working fine artist, I moved to a large market (Atlanta, GA) with the goal of finding work in the art market in some way, at a museum, gallery, or at another artist’s studio. I’ve worked in art galleries and museums for over 25 years ever since then.

It was that exposure working in galleries and museums that got me interested in shifting my creative work from being an artist, to working to highlight other artists to more audiences. For many, many years, I led a dual life where on one hand I was a working artist creating my own work and exhibiting in galleries, and on the other hand I had this life as an arts professional and growing my curatorial practice.

I just found that curating exhibitions by other artists allowed me to say and do so much more than I ever could accomplish with only my own artwork. It started by curating collections in a gallery I worked at, to doing independent curation of shows in other spaces, to running a gallery for someone else, and becoming a curator for a museum.

Every step along the way, I kept looking forward, thinking about how I could do more for artists, patrons, and the community at large. In order for me to be able to grow into something more, I decided to go back to school to earn a MBA degree so I could balance my creative side with the business side. The goal was to become either a director of an arts organization or the owner of an art business.

As luck would have it, my former boss and owner of B. Deemer Gallery was retiring and approached me to take over ownership of her gallery. I’ve rebranded the business as WheelHouse Art and now I am finally earning my living solely based off of my own creative work, where I am the guiding force and I’m not working for someone else. I get to realize my own vision and make my living off of it.

So, it’s taken my longer to get to where I am than I may have wanted, but unless I already knew with 100% certainty that owning a gallery is what I wanted to do and there was nothing else, then I don’t think I could have come to this place any sooner than I did.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have always been an art kid. Growing up I was constantly drawing and creating. Art was the only class in school I always did well in, the only thing that held my interest. I earned a BFA in drawing and sculpture and immediately started a career working in art museums and galleries for the past 25+ years.

Art is something that has meant so much to me and has positively impacted my life in so many ways that all I’ve ever wanted to do was spread that love with as many other people as I can. Helping more people see and appreciate art has been my mission.

That mission began first as an artist. I created installation based artwork that I tried to make visually and technically interesting while still being approachable. I wanted both art-nerds as well as people who had no art experience whatsoever to love the work. I didn’t just want to preach to the choir, but I wanted to create new art converts.

Over time, I got to dip my toe into art curation. The more I did it, the more I learned and loved it. I realized that through curating art exhibitions, I had an opportunity to do multiple exhibitions every year, so much more than I ever could doing just my own artwork. More exhibitions = more audiences that could be impacted. Curating shows allowed me to show work by artists who could say and do so much more than I ever could on my own, and are often better artists than I am.

I have constantly worked to grow and develop, and felt that if I wanted to make even more impact in my community, I would have to become more of a leader. That meant owning and running my own art services operation. When a former boss called me one day to tell me she was retiring and asked if I would buy her gallery, I jumped at the opportunity.

WheelHouse Art has been going strong for four and a half years now serving our community. We serve our clients by removing any possible barrier, any pinch point, or anything that may get in the way from someone who wants to own or appreciate art.
If someone wants to look at art for free, we host rotating exhibitions at the gallery of work by over fifty artists.
If someone wants to learn more about the art, we host receptions with artist talks so people can meet the artists, hear their stories, and ask them questions.
If someone is looking to fill an empty space on their wall, we carry around 800 works of art in inventory available for sale.
If someone needs framing, we do that.
If someone needs help installing artwork, we do that.
If someone needs help transporting artwork, or crating art for shipping, we do that.
If someone has artwork that they can no longer care for and want help selling it, we can do that.
We even have an art leasing program for corporate clients that allows businesses to fill their spaces with original works of art for their employees and customers. The corporate client save money versus purchasing an entire collection of artwork up front, they get to try on the work temporarily, and either change it out for something different or apply their payments toward purchasing the work if they want to keep it.
If someone needs help with something we don’t do in-house, we can help them with whatever solutions they need…art restoration, reproductions, appraisals, and more.

And clients aren’t our only focus. Since I started out as an artist, I am very cognizant about doing whatever we can to serve artists’ needs too.
We offer discounts for artists who need framing done for exhibitions, whether they are showing here or elsewhere.
When we sell secondary artwork, if the artist is still living and we can contact them, we send them a commission check from a portion of the sale of their artwork. Royalty payments is something I picked up from selling digital NFT artwork and have carried over into the physical art world. I don’t believe I have heard of any other gallery or auction house that does that.
And about that art leasing program? Well, for any artist whose work is leased, they earn income for as long as the work is out, whether it ends up selling or not. They have the potential to earn a lot more off their art with this program over the life of the work than if it sold the first time it was shown.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

The original NFT bubble has burst from peak 2021-ish days, but I am a firm believer in the long-term viability of Fine Art NFTs.

In my opinion, the biggest issues with NFTs dealt with the ease of purchasing and displaying the work. Prior to connecting digital provenance to the blockchain, the only way for a digital artist to really sell their work without issue of copy/pasting infinite copies of their work was to sell the work installed onto hardware. When you are dealing with hardware, you have to deal with trying to fix things when parts and software become outdated and obsolete. Even once NFTs broke onto the scene, the process of setting up a wallet, purchasing cryptocurrency, and collecting was a fairly convoluted process.
The next biggest issue was that a lot of the work just wasn’t very good. Much of what you saw looked like it was made by graphic designers more than “fine artists.” Lots of Bitcoin and Ethereum logo animations and Pepe memes. Lastly, I think the native “trustless” system of crypto leaves a bit to be desired as far as authenticating the work of an artist.

But here is why I am bullish on Fine Art NFTs: Our culture and our lives are only getting more intertwined with digital experiences. Digital culture includes digital art, and as more artists are brought up working digitally, the more viable and interesting digital art collecting will become. The artwork becomes more interesting, and as consumers continue to drive this very young experience, technology will continue to develop to make it easier to participate. We are already seeing new and better options for digital displays.

WheelHouse Art began exhibiting Fine Art NFTs in 2022, and to date, I believe we are still the only gallery in Louisville, Kentucky to mint and sell our own collection of Fine Art NFTs. We mint the work for artists, payments are made with credit cards, not cryptocurrency, and we have experience with multiple digital displays to know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a slow process getting people acclimated to the idea of owning digital art, but we are here help whenever people are ready to make that jump.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

It’s making connections. It’s about helping people, and improving people’s’ lives through art.
When someone finds themself awestruck seeing an exhibition. When we send checks to artists for leasing and selling their artwork. When we help someone find the perfect piece of artwork for their home or office. I know they will spend hours and years looking at it, studying it, and enjoying it just like I do with the artwork in my own personal collection.
That is what this is all about. That is why I do what I do.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://wheelhouse.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellowheelhouse/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HelloWheelHouse
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hellowheelhouse/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellowheelhouse
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@hellowheelhouse
• Other: Email: hello@wheelhouse.art

Image Credits

All images courtesy of WheelHouse Art.
1) WheelHouse Art Exterior. (with van)
2) JULIAN POWERS, “Sanguis Nativitatis⁠- 2022_045_410,” Edition of 1 NFT. (Red square image)
3) DANIEL PFALZGRAF, “GOO Pond,” Charcoal and oil on paper. (Dog painting)
4) EMILY PFAFF, “Green Ashley,” Mixed media on canvas. (Painting with pink dress)
5) WheelHouse Art Interior, from “All Today’s Parties” NFT Digital Art x Physical Art group exhibition. (Looking through window)
6) Pfalzgraf with artist Robyn Gibson
7) ETHAN OSMAN, “Trust the Rainbow 2 Pages” installation, Watercolor on copy paper. (lots of red/orange/yellow figures on paper viewing down a wall)
8) Pfalzgraf still from “The Gallery” video.