GALLERY WALK

Re-making Hay

By Chris Thompson

The Hay Gallery is now under new ownership. Recently, Laura Fuller, who created the gallery back in 1999 with Duane Patricio (no longer with the gallery), decided to sell the Hay to Linda Laughlin. Despite her successes with the gallery thus far, Fuller felt that “as artists, we had taken the gallery as far as we could go.” She expects that Laughlin, a Freeport resident with an extensive advertising background, will bring “the business and marketing experience that is necessary to take The Hay to the next level.”

Laughlin characterizes her return to the fine art market as a kind of homecoming. Though she owned and ran Portland’s Linda Lee Advertising firm in Portland for over 15 years, she “started out in art and theater back in the ’70s,” and wound up in the advertising world in order to make a living. “I had a great time and terrific clients,” she says, “but now I’m ready to get back to my roots.”

This process of rediscovering her roots had already begun before she purchased The Hay. Last year she started a fine art and craft gallery in Yarmouth, called 189 Main, which makes The Hay the second venue under her ownership.

Though the gallery may have changed hands, Laughlin seems eager to keep its present staff on board. Fuller will continue to play an active role in its operation. She’ll keep her glass studio on the premises, and will maintain her involvement as a gallery consultant. And Daniel Noel will stay on as Associate Curator, which means that their combined curatorial input will continue to focus The Hay’s exhibition schedule.

It seems as though the focus will be more immediately upon expansion. This summer, Laughlin has plans to expand the gallery’s exhibition space. She also will draw on her decade and a half in advertising in order to increase the gallery’s publicity within and outside Maine. So, while only time will tell what exactly taking The Hay “to the next level” will entail, the immediate plans seem fairly stable and focused.