photo/Jessie Banhazl
Jess Lauren
Age: 41
Hometown: Hamilton, New Jersey
Profession: Artist/Gallery Manager
Bar of Choice: Bar of Chocolate
Drink of Choice: Espresso, or Jim Beam on the rocks
Step inside Bar of Chocolate at night in Portland’s Old Port and you’re instantly transported far away from the raucous party scene on Wharf Street. In this chill and cozy café you can enjoy decadent cocktails and desserts while striking up interesting conversations with regulars and tourists alike.
“It’s a very social bar here,” said bartender Griffin Gingrich. “Everyone is making conversation with the people next to them, and I think the regulars here are really good about pulling new people in and having conversations with them. It’s a very personal spot, and I think it’s very comforting, because everyone is so welcoming in that way.”
One of those regulars is local gallery manager and artist Jess Lauren.
What initially brought you into Bar of Chocolate?
This turns out to be one of the most social bars in Portland. For whatever reason, the design of this bar, the bartenders and staff who work here, they have a really great rapport with each other. It just gets people talking to their neighbor really quickly. It’s not the bar you come to if you want to be left alone. I might know one or two people who are the regulars here, and we might only see each other every other week, because it’s just a lot of new people. But it’s the bartenders who get us talking to the new people, and you give them advice about Portland and other things to do. It’s not the craziness that is Wharf Street, because it just seems a little dark and out of the way. I’ve been coming here consistently for about four years.
What is your profession?
I am currently the gallery manager of Casco Bay Artisans, which is a commercial art gallery down on Commercial Street, next to Scales. We represent over fifty artists, mostly from Maine, but we work with thirteen states and eight countries. It’s really nice, because I get to advocate for artists. It’s more than just selling a painting, because I get to talk to people about artists and their work, what inspires them, what can also work in their home or their business, or what they’re looking for. When they buy something, that’s money that goes to the artist to keep creating, which is really exciting.
You’re an artist yourself, right?
I’m also a working artist. My studio is called The Door Yard, and it has hosted a lot of artists over the years. I usually have some of my work at Casco Bay Artisans, but I also have some of my textile work at Little Tap House. I’m hoping to show this whole series of pieces around collaging American history next year.
What media do you work in currently?
After graduating from the College of New Jersey with a degree in Fine Art, I was doing more installation/performance-based work. Then I moved to Maine and found there was not a huge community for installation or performance-based work. Now, it’s photography and textiles. I like collaging images from American history into different kinds of iconic shapes and putting them on the wall, juxtaposing the good, the bad, the ugly of our history altogether. I’m trying to show that history is kind of cyclical, and also you can kind of see these moments where we haven’t always been perfect, but we’ve been working towards better and reminding ourselves that it’s been this long struggle to get to where we are now, and it’s not over, but there’s no reason to lose hope, either, that we can continue to build a better country.
What types of work are people attracted to at the gallery?
I will say seascapes, landscapes; bold, bright, joyous colors. I think people really look at the art that we host at the gallery as something that they want in their homes, in their day-to-day lives, that brings them joy, that calms them down, that reminds them that there’s a reason we keep pushing forward. There’s so much negative out there, so they want to come home to something that makes them feel safe, supported, and energized for tomorrow.
What are some of the challenges you face as a working artist?
Aside from the general challenges of housing and cost of living that everybody is facing, we need more buyers. We need more people to feel like they can buy art. Art doesn’t have to be twenty thousand dollars; it can be twenty-five dollars from a street artist during the Art Walk. We need more people thinking that buying art is putting money back into the economy, because the artist then goes back and spends it on rent and food and the Bar of Chocolate. When you buy work from artists, they’re not hoarding it — they’re going back out and putting it into the local economy.
Do you have any advice for current art students?
Don’t shy away from what can make you money, whether it’s working in the restaurant industry, getting a day job, or selling work that might not be what feeds your soul, but feeds your pocket. We talk to our audience sometimes about bread-and-butter paintings. If that’s something that you have a market for, it’s OK to create for the market; if you still want to do something else, that money allows you to do something else. I want them to do everything, try everything, and know that it’s really hard to make it as an artist. If you don’t make it in the first five years, cool, keep going. If you have a passion for it, keep pushing for it. No one can teach you to think, but art school can teach you how to make. So keep making.
Know an interesting bar regular? Send them our way at theregularsmaine@gmail.com.
