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She came out as an Independent

By Heather Castro Contributing Art Writer

VERSAILLES — Let's take a step back in time, shall we?

It's 1983. Microsoft has just introduced a new program called Word. America is talking about the first trips to space by a woman and an African-American. Japan is responding to a new game system called Nintendo. The world is watching the music video of Michael Jackson's Thriller.

The art world is busy, too. In Spain, heart failure claims famed surrealist Joan Miró, while in New York, Andy Warhol is busy making friends and art with two rising, and eventually tragic, artists: Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

And Lexington? The city is experiencing a first: an independent art gallery. The opening of Heike Pickett Gallery marked an important shift in the art market of Central Kentucky, a new direction in art and artistic direction that is still going strong after 25 years.

"When I started, there weren't any other galleries like me — that solely represented artists on a regular basis," said Heike Pickett, the gallery's owner and namesake. "I'm an independent gallery (rather than commercial) — the word commercial has so many negative connotations."

Initially housed in one room at 522 West Short Street, the private gallery — now with locations in Versailles and Lexington — was started by chance. It was an opportunity that Pickett couldn't pass up.

"They were renovating the building for a group of artists," Pickett said. The building's owner offered her a room to set up a gallery with free rent for six months.

Owning an art gallery "was not something I had ever thought about," said Pickett, who at the time was moving back into the work force after staying home with her young children. "But I had to do something."

It was "something" she had trained for, at least visually.

"Going to museums, viewing architecture — it was part of what you did," said Pickett, who was born in Kiel, Germany, and arrived in the United States when she was 29. "I traveled extensively. It was part of" the culture.

That desire to see and view artwork found a new place in her life with husband Irwin Pickett, an inaugural staff member of the Kentucky Arts Council. Today, he is an art appraiser with the gallery.

"Irwin traveled for the arts council for many years," Heike Pickett said. "I traveled with him, viewing art. It was the value judgment (of art) that caught me at first. Going to a museum or gallery, that judgment's already been made by someone else. For me, that's where Irwin came in. (He) says, 'You have the eye,' and that's what it takes, to trust yourself. That's what I tell collectors now: Develop your visual vocabulary — trust yourself."

Another early challenge for Pickett was to define her gallery's role as separate from the non-profit galleries that filled the region.

"It was very poorly defined, the idea of a non-profit gallery," Pickett said, recalling galleries run by museums, an ethically questionable notion in today's market. "But they were there to support artists, and that's where I find them."

Pickett, 68, relies on her intuition and discerning eye when looking for artists to represent.

"I've never tried to pick someone who was saleable; I couldn't get behind that," she said. "The name (of the gallery) represents my taste and the quality of work I expect."

Regional, national and international artists are affiliated with her gallery, but most of Pickett's stable of artists have Kentucky connections, including Jay Bolotin, a Fayette County native with work in the Museum of Modern Art, and Fay Moore, one of the first recognized female sports artists.

In the past 25 years, Pickett has shown about 300 artists in 200 shows, establishing herself as the owner of one of the region's premier galleries. The artwork they show runs the gamut of genres and mediums, defined by an expressionistic aesthetic and impeccable technique and craftsmanship.

"All of the people we started out with are still making interesting work," Pickett said. "That's the thing to look for: talent and drive. That's what makes the former come to fruition."

The same can be said of Pickett herself. Today, she operates two permanent galleries. Her flagship gallery and sculpture garden is in Versailles; a satellite exhibition space, Heike Pickett at CMW, is in an executive office suite at East Vine and Main streets in Lexington. However, Pickett is often out of town, showing her artists at art fairs and exhibitions. In addition, her gallery is a brokerage for the occasional estate painting.

"It's a tough thing to do," Pickett said. But that toughness is inextricably linked with her satisfaction in her work. "It's the challenge of it: to watch the creative process of artists but — we're not millionaires — to balance it with business and make it work, all without compromising our vision."

And as far as retiring? Pickett pondered the question. "I always worry about the next year. But there will always be art, and I'm not willing to call it a day."