Photo c/o Jessica Todd
When Todd opened Parachute Gallery in the fall of 2022, she aimed to support local artists and bring craft media into a gallery setting.
“Part of the name Parachute is me jumping,” Todd told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “The other part of that is I’m providing this support for artists, to give them this extra set of help to softly land on the ground.”
When Todd opened Parachute Gallery in the fall of 2022, she aimed to support local artists and bring craft media into a gallery setting. The only question was exactly how she would do that.
In its first year, Parachute Gallery—located in the Kress Collective at 1624 E 7th Ave. Suite 240—hosted several monthly exhibitions. “Late Night Thoughts” and “Restrung: Contemporary Beadsmiths” did a great job introducing Ybor City to artists using craft media in unique or innovative ways.
On the flip side of the coin, shows like “Buy Me Flowers and Call Me Pretty” highlighted the power of traditional crafts like jewelry and ceramic vases to express love and caring.
Unfortunately, exhibitions like these don’t always pay the bills.
“Four weeks is a very limited amount of time to sell work,” says Todd. “It’s just financially too much of a strain.”
So as Parachute Gallery’s one-year anniversary approaches, Todd’s trying out a new business model. “The way I’m approaching it now is to form long-term relationships with a set group of core artists who are local and working with them over time,” Todd told CL.
For these artists, Parachute Gallery will be a retail space.
“It will be a lot of crafts—ceramics, jewelry, stationary, fibers, wood, a little bit of painting,” says Todd. “And then some artisanal locally made products like coffee and tea.”
Through her exhibitions, Todd has demonstrated an eye for the power of craft to elevate our daily lives. It’s a skill that should transfer nicely into selling fine crafts in a retail space.
Parachute Gallery’s relaunch sale to help finance the space’s redesign happens next week from Thursday-Saturday, Aug. 17-19. More information is at parachute-gallery.com and @parachute.gallery on Instagram.
