Today we’d like to introduce you to Greg Belz.
Thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I began staging art exhibitions in the mid-1980s. It started as a way to help some painters who were friends of mine; they needed assistance in marketing their work to the general public. I was in the media business and thought I could offer solutions in areas that seemed challenging to artists. I started a non-profit that staged an extensive indoor exposition of paintings and sculpture for four years: two at the Fairgrounds, called the Memphis Art Exchange, and two more at the Agricenter, ArtFest. We also mounted a monthly exhibit called the Crowne Collection at the (then) new Crowne Plaza Hotel, which was attached to the Convention Center, as a showcase for visitors to experience local art; that effort went off for five years, and we staged shows featuring some awe-inspiring artists, including Glenn Ray Tutor, Ed Rainey, James Starks, Mary Norman, Bob Reisling, and even a retrospective of Carroll Cloar’s work. The abstract expressionist painter, Marjorie Leibman used to introduce me as “the Diaghilev of the Memphis art scene.” Still, artists can take up much of one’s time, and radio and TV paid the bills, so I elected to put my impresario cape in storage.
I took it out again, quite by accident, 18 years later, when the host of a local TV morning show challenged me to find a hook for a Broadway touring show. I provided PR services for a play called Menopause the Musical; the producers were pleased with the volume of press I had generated for the show and decided to play Memphis again the following year. During their first visit, the cast had performed WREG’s Live at Nine Morning Show; the second time around, the show’s host, Marybeth Conley, declined the chance to book them. MB never let anything on twice: “They can sing different songs,” I pleaded, but the answer was still no. MB said she loved how I always rose to a challenge, so I sought inspiration at the Grove Grill bar when artist Lisa Tribo sat beside me. She began reminiscing rhapsodically about the expositions she had participated in, their pivotal role in her growth as an artist, and how much she missed them. Then, she said, “Goodness, you have to excuse me; I’m having a hot flash.” I smiled and said, “How would you like to be in a show?” That conversation spawned an exhibition called Transformed, a collection of women’s art, exploring how life had changed as they did. It was staged as a progressive show in several shops at Laurelwood: Joseph’s, Pavo, Booksellers, etc., all sponsored by Menopause the Musical. It got the artists – and the play – a spot on Live at Nine (and press through several other outlets). It also introduced me to another realm of the art world: the applied arts (or fine craft). In my past life, I had worked with painters and sculptors. As a result of Transformed, I became acquainted with two potters, Jen Winfrey and Katie Dann (daughter of the late and glorious Mimi Dann). They started asking me to stage a Holiday Artists’ Market; I said no; they asked again; I said no; by the time they had asked thrice, the 2007-2008 financial crisis had brought a halt to Broadway tours, and most of the other areas in which I worked; unlike Caesar, this time I did not refuse the crown, and WintertArts was born.
2023 marked the 15th year for WinterArts, the South’s Premiere Holiday Artists’ Market. WinterArts runs from the Friday night following Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve. WinterArts features the work of the region’s finest fine-craft artists; most are from the Memphis area, but some are from Nashville, Chattanooga, Little Rock, New Orleans, and points in between.
A new non-profit, ArtWorks Foundation, was established to present WinterArts. We also produce Art in The Loop, the art festival in east Memphis, on Ridgeway Loop Road at Briarcrest Avenue; the street is closed for three days. WKNO TV & FM, as well as Memphis Magazine, are the event’s co-presenters. In addition to the work of artists from across the US, Art in The Loop offers the fare of the town’s top food trucks and performances of classical music. 2024 marks Art in The Loop’s seventh year (this year’s dates are April 12, 13 & 14). It is Memphis’ only major art fair {please remove comma} which offers free admission.
ArtWorks Foundation has also staged art events in other Tennessee cities, Nashville and Franklin; Oxford, Mississippi; and Fort Worth, Texas. ArtWorks Foundation is a 501{c}3 non-profit focused on helping artists grow in their business and work through programs, including exhibitions and education initiatives. We also award scholarships for advanced study workshops at schools for Fine-Craft. We are working to establish a regional center for Fine Craft and an endowment to fund Emergency Relief Grants to help area artists resume careers derailed by disasters or catastrophic illness.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
My first visual arts ventures in the 1980s were great fun but taxing: they took more time than I could afford to devote to them. I missed working with artists but only realized how much when I was back in the thick of it in the mid-2000s. There are always challenges, primarily financial; things always cost more and earn less than one imagines, but the artists with whom I work are amazingly generous – and talented in myriad ways; someone always volunteers (or is cajoled) to step in and help me through most of the physical and logistical challenges. For some time, we have dreamt of acquiring a building to create a center for fine crafts. That would cut down the strain we face, but the site would have to satisfy some particular criteria before we could make that happen. So, for now, we are peripatetic, adapting to cope with whatever uncertainties and limitations we face at each location where we temporarily set up camp.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
When it comes right down to it, I am a Carnival Barker. My job is to get the punters to step inside the tent; whether that tent involves gaping at snake charmers, watching a television station, or attending an art festival, my focus has always been on catching people’s attention and enticing them to spend time (and hopefully, 10-cents, one-thin-dime, the tenth part of a dollar) to look upon the wonders of whatever it is I am promoting: these days, that’s art, and the people who create it.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The artists with whom I am honored to be associated are the reason for any success achieved through my efforts; if the works they create were not spectacular, my efforts to promote them would be meaningless: they create wonders; I point that out. I owe them everything (and so do the people whose lives are enriched by their work!). As to how my skill sets developed, it was partly through being inspired by working in exciting fields: records, radio, television – a lot of industries that are now mere shadows of their former glories; and partly from being in the right place at an auspicious moment, my great uncle and Charlie Vergos were indirectly responsible for bringing me to the attention of Don Meyers at WMC Radio; he gave me my first chance in broadcast promotion, and constantly amazed me with his brilliant insights into any problem that ever arose (I later realized that was the value of experience). I worked under four General Managers in television, only one of whom was even sentient: Morrie Beitch, who, beyond being brilliant, broadened my education in broadcasting by introducing me to some of the legends who developed network television. Finally, I spent years in awe of – or appalled by – William B. Tanner, who Fortune Magazine called the Sultan of Swap (the man who wrote the book on advertising barter and created what was once the world’s largest advertising agency: though, not anywhere near the best, from a creative standpoint). I learned quite a few tricks from him: some about how to do things, and more about what to watch out for!
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Image Credits
Picture #1 : Greg Belz & Shotzie, The Vampire Cat
