Art & Commerce, A Love Story...

11/16/2017

by Shawn Vinson

DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY Partner/Director

When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art.
When artists get together for dinner,
they discuss Money.
- Oscar Wilde

Earlier this year at the opening of the Decatur Art Festival Fine Arts Exhibition at Agnes Scott College's Dalton Gallery, I was introduced to a charming local banker from Cornerstone Bank. I didn't realize that we still had any community banks left and it was nice to meet Jamie Ensley. When he learned that I had just opened DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY his eyes lit up!

Do you want to open another gallery in our bank? he asked.

Turns out that Jamie and his team were just discussing the best use of some extra space they had at their Decatur office. Ideas were floated: a community room? a wi-fi cafe?

Jamie, who was once the chair of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, had another idea:
What about an art gallery?

A week later, I met with Jamie and Hank Almquist, Cornerstone's CEO. Hank started his banking career at Chase Manhattan in New York under David Rockefeller, who established the firm’s art program. The Chase Collection took the lead in the field of corporate art collecting worldwide.

Rockefeller believed that arts and culture are the lifeblood of local communities and in that spirit, DIFFERENT TRAINS GALLERY 2 at Cornerstone Bank of Decatur was launched.

You'll find the gallery just off the Square in Decatur, Georgia (six miles east of downtown Atlanta). It's one half-block north of the Dekalb History Center Museum / Old Courthouse at 125 Clairemont Avenue. Walk through the lobby & past the vault, and you just might feel as though you've been transported to New York or London. The large corner gallery space features high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows - a lovely environment for displaying and enjoying art.

The first two exhibitions have showcased Georgia artists Elizabeth Barton, Christopher Paul Dean, Ruth Franklin, Luzene Hill, Masako Kelly, Steve Mckenzie, Jon Eric Riis and Flora Rosefsky.

The current show, "Bank SEE 2.0", continues through December 31. DTG2 is open during bank hours, Mon-Thu: 9 - 4 & Fri: 9 - 5.

Upcoming Events:
DTG1 - 432 East Howard Avenue No. 24
Dec 2nd, 5 - 8pm: Holiday Show Opening Reception - celebrate the season and get the first look at our annual salon-style exhibition of affordable art by gallery artists. Yule love it!

DTG2 at Cornerstone Bank of Decatur
125 Clairemont Avenue No. 100
Dec 5th, 10:30am - 12pm: A Conversation with Jon Eric Riis - gallery talk with gallery director Shawn Vinson and artists Luzene Hill, Steve Mckenzie & Flora Rosefsky
Dec 14th, 5 - 8pm: Holiday Party for Cornerstone Bank customers, friends & neighbors; gallery patrons, artists & friends;, and members of the Decatur Arts Alliance, Decatur Business Association and the AGLCC.