Nancy Margolis established her Gallery in 1974 in Ogunquit, Maine.
Margolis (b. 1930) describes herself from this period as wearing many hats: she was a potter; a professor of ceramics at Bates College; a wife; a mother to four children; and now a business owner. At its inception, Nancy Margolis Gallery — operating only in the summer months — focused on American Crafts. This movement, then at its height, was bursting with change, discovery, and experimentation. Margolis remembers that her greatest lesson during this first venture was recognizing that perfection was not possible, yet success was obtainable.
Margolis’s ambition was to have a year-round gallery.
Thirteen years after opening her Ogunquit space, she and her husband found the perfect site: a three-bay firehouse built in 1879 and located in the center of Auburn, ME. Despite its poor physical condition, Margolis saw its potential, and the city sold it to her for $5,000 on the condition she would improve the building. With the help of a local architect, The Engine House was born. Margolis moved her Gallery into the second floor, developing the building to house four shops, and a two-story restaurant.
Margolis had her sights set on Portland.
Realizing that Auburn didn’t offer the creative environment she craved, Margolis relocated after three years at The Engine House, this time to Maine’s largest city, Portland. There she stayed on Fore Street until the mid-1990s, solidifying the Gallery’s reputation as an eminent craft dealer and continuing to create and showcase her own ceramics. But it was now time to pursue her greatest dream: opening a gallery in New York City.
In 1991, Margolis set up shop in a brownstone in Chelsea, making her Gallery one of the first to operate in the now esteemed arts district.
During these early years on West 21st Street in New York, Margolis retained her presence in Portland, operating both galleries simultaneously. Her concentration remained on ceramics and sculpture. From her Chelsea space, Margolis hosted her first of many solo exhibitions for fiber artist Ferne Jacobs, an artist the Gallery still represents today.
Margolis saw that the art world was changing.
As attention to the craft movement began to subside, the spotlight turned to contemporary painting. Always ready to adapt, Margolis shifted the focus of her Gallery from craft to painting, maintaining several sculptors in her stable of artists. She also experimented in different areas of New York City, opening a location for a few years on Broadway in SoHo.
In 2003, when it was clear that Chelsea was becoming a true art center, Margolis settled on West 25th Street, where she stayed until March 2020.
During these two decades, Margolis curated over 100 exhibitions and participated in numerous fairs across the country. One of her deepest joys was fostering the careers of emerging artists; and indeed, many of her painters went on to become leaders in their fields. International in scope, the Gallery’s artists are today represented in major public and private collections, including:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC)
The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC)
The Guggenheim Museum (NYC)
The Museum of Modern Art (NYC)
The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)
The de Young Museum (San Francisco)
The Smithsonian American Art Museum (D.C.)
The Victoria & Albert Museum (London)
Nationalmuseum (Stockholm)
Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres (Paris)
Royal Scottish Museum (Edinburgh)
In March 2020, forced to close its physical doors at the onset of the pandemic, NMG pivoted to a digital space.
Lilian Day Thorpe — now the Director of Nancy Margolis Gallery — took the initiative of guiding the Gallery through its latest evolution. Thorpe transformed this new platform, making it an engaging and community-oriented space to continue forging ahead. This new realm has created flexibility beyond the bounds of previous physical spaces. Today, the Gallery is accessible to art-lovers around the world, and it can now offer in-person pop-up shows throughout the country as opportunities arise.
While NMG’s platform has evolved, much has remained the same. Each exhibition is still accompanied by its much beloved Artist Talk and printed catalogue. The Gallery continues to host a full year of thoughtfully curated shows, embracing its current roster of artists and keeping an eye on the future.
