It’s been 5 quarters since I last pontificated on the state of Art Dallas. Way too long, for sure…. but, as we all know, it’s been quite a year.

First, we learned (in October) that the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department under Bush/Cheney had been sitting on a boiling cauldron of previously undisclosed financial problems caused mostly by long-term reorganization and subsequent deregulation of the American financial industry.

Second, we learned that financial institutions “too big to fail” are also probably “too big to exist”.

Third, we learned that certain media outlets (representing themselves as news outlets) functioned as little more than conduits for the talking points for one of the political parties.

Fourth, we heard the iconic Chairman of the Federal Reserve suggest not only that he’d been wrong (for the last 10 years), but that the failure of his policies derived from the fallacy of his “fundamental belief” that the banking industry would “act in its own best interests” instead of the personal best interests of the managers.

Fifth, we learned that endless legal bickering over the outcome of an important state election was the only patriotic thing to do if it kept a Democrat from making the senate one vote closer to fillibuster-proof.

Sixth, we learned (again) that you can’t steal from the middle class forever and have a healthy economy.

The consequences of a deep, deep recession and bad public policy coupled with the  removal of all regulation (either overtly, or de facto) on purely ideological grounds became part of the socio-political horizon. Anyone listening learned some important lessons. Those who weren’t listening probably had a good reason.

Where’s Art Dallas in all this? Not so bad, thankyouverymuch.

The new building is ready with a shiny new certificate of occupancy and a plan. Already moved in, the print-on-demand facility is running full time with exciting new equipment that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago. In addition to our normal pigmented and dye-based aqueous ink printers, we’ve added printers that use solvent-based inks on the one hand and ultraviolet (UV) cured inks on the other. Adding this equipment buys a lot in terms of the range of product we can produce.

The solvent-based inks produce durable finishes with the widest possible gamut. These inks produce gorgeous results on such flexible media as vinyls, canvas and paper.  Since they’re pigment-based, the colors are considered “archival”. Because they use a solvent-reduced binder, they’re durable enough to be used to produce such things as murals in medium-traffic public areas without post-production lamination. With a wide range of vinyl media made specifically for this purpose, adding this equipment provides a totally new product capable of putting our artists’ best work on the wall in any size.

The UV cured inks are used in a 5′ x 10′,  flat-bed printer that prints on nearly any media, up to 2″ thick with sizes up to the size of the bed.  With this machine, we’ve been printing on various metals (copper, zinc, aluminum, steel, stainless steel) as well as such things as plexiglas, glass, hand-laid paper, marble and wood. It’s the latest and greatest, adding enormous variety to our product line. Best of all, both the flatbed and the solvent-based printers are programmed to print 6 color plus two white channels. This configuration allows us almost infinite flexibility when it comes to media, since it  allows us to micro-manage the absorption spectra of the medium we’re printing on based on the local color and effect we’re trying to achieve .  This is done by underprinting the final image with carefully-designed masking prints, a technique similar to multiple- plate etchings. The print-reprint characteristics of the new machine are accurate to the fraction of a millimeter, so multiple prints can be done with exquisite detail in perfect registration. What gets a little tricky is “seeing” the resulting multiple layer print before it’s executed since there are no “do-overs” in this game. Let’s just say that getting something close to the desired result can take a few iterations.

Obviously, we’re still learning exactly how underprints affect the final result with the flatbed and its UV cured inks.  In a world built on the unexpected, however,  the most surprising results so far have been prints on copper. By carefully constructing one or more underprints, hues associated with short wavelengths can be preserved without sacrificing the flash and dazzle the copper gives to mid- and long- wavelength portions of the print.  Unexpectedly, we’ve found that these prints use light in entirely new ways. As the light changes in either its angle of incidence or intensity, the reflectance of the print (and thus its appearance) changes in important and interesting ways. We’re having trouble keeping these prints in stock. Occasionally, we wonder what might have happened had the impressionists had tools as powerful as the flatbed. It really is all about light, isn’t it?

Moving right along:

The new gallery is rennovated and ready to go as a place to display and enjoy very high-end art. Complete with a kitchen, our first scheduled opening is in late April.

Nearing completion are a large traditional print studio with a 30″ x 50″ Brandt etching press and a full-size proof press, a complete darkroom (yes, folks, the last wet darkroom!) and last, but certainly not least, a dedicated video studio. These areas will be presided over by local artists using the facilities as their production studios. They will also be made available to qualified visitors on their way through Dallas. We hope the new facilities at Art Dallas will help us return to the Dallas art community some of what it’s given us over the years as well as allow us to present top-level artist’s work out of the hustle-bustle of our production gallery.

“Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”

We set out this past year to provide the best, most complete service in the industry while maintaining the most competitive pricing structure possible. I think we accomplished those goals.

We started working on a live, streaming-video system a few years ago. After a number of false starts, our IT genius (Jeff ) got it optimized a couple of years ago, allowing us to bring the complete inventory of our stocking art gallery into our customer’s office from anywhere in the world. I’m happy to report the system’s being used more and more as our customers have grown more comfortable with the process. We’re finding that once they’ve used it a couple of times, they rave about the ease of use, the quality of the stream and the economies using the system brings to bear. Normally, the system finds its best use in making preliminary decisions about art packages for projects. Some designers, however, have gotten so confident they’re using the system to finalize art decisions. Talk about efficient! It’s such a wonderful feeling to ship original art to customers on approval who already have a pretty darned good idea of what the art looks like. With no one “guessing”, the results are infinitely more efficient and predictable.

In the same vein, the video capability at each of our designers’ desks has saved countless travel hours for both our salespeople and our customers. Substituting materials (for whatever reason) has become as simple as 1-2-3 without the need to travel across the country or, for that matter, across town. The real-time, streaming video has found an important place in our business. Better service, not a lot of cost and incredible savings in wasted time, fuel and (in my case) blood pressure. We’re finding that once everyone understands how easy it is to use, they agree that it’s simply a better way for professionals to make art and framing decisions in a very competitive world.

Other areas that seem to be working well all revolve around the wonderful family that shows up every morning ready to take yet another whack at their “lists”. We are truly blessed with the personnel we’ve been lucky enough to attract. Under Alan’s capable leadership, the sales team has stayed positive, focused and on target through all that this rotten depression has been able to throw at us. Lawrence and Keith have done the same with custom and production framing, respectively. Sloan’s kept the world organized and her brother (Michael) just keeps those projects coming. I’m splitting my time between working with (and learning about) the new printers and making sure the accountants and lawyers know where Art Dallas is going and how it intends to get there. As for Judy, well, she’s the Art Lady who inspires us all. It’s a terrific group with an enormous range of talents. Judy and I are so very proud of our “kids” — all of them. They do a terrific job. And this year, they got recognized for it.

That’s right. In a field that doesn’t get too much recognition,  Art Dallas Inc. was the recipient of the Wilson & Associates 2008 Point of Excellence award. I’m told it’s the first time it’s been awarded to the whole company rather than an individual within a company. That, in itself, speaks to a major goal last year: perform as a team.

When the award was announced at the annual luncheon benefitting Trisha’s foundation and it’s school in South Africa, Judy and I were speachless when we realized our little company was receiving this award. MomnPops are like that. But Michael managed to thank the assembled luncheoners and we survived. That’s such a credit to all the people at Art Dallas who do things like build crates, frame pictures, organize the gallery and keep the records on very complex jobs unconfused. Judy and I are proud of everyone. They all have special talents and they all play an important part in our success. All I can say is those W&A folks sure know how to keep a secret! As almost anyone will be happy to tell you, it’s really hard to render me speechless.

But that’s not all. Because of the positive attitude, excitement and new product development we’ve had going on all year, Art Dallas Inc. not only appeared as #3 on Old School Marketing’s  “100 Coolest Things in Texas” list but was also mentioned by Dr. Doemky as one of the few art firms that “get it” when it comes to art in the Health Care industry.

Wow. It’s nice to be noticed for nice things by nice people. It means a lot and keeps us going.

So where do we go from here?

First, when the Secretary of the Treasury and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve went to congress with a 3-page “bill” demanding a staggering amount of money without strings, Art Dallas, acting with the consent of every employee, cut back both salaries and production hours to cushion the shock we knew was coming. Cutting fixed expenses in response to the result of the latest neocon misapplication of Milton Friedman’s economic theories allowed us to retain most of our services in the face of a serious reduction in demand. What’s happened since has been interesting, since it’s beginning to look as if we might emerge from this mess with a somewhat larger market share. Then, if we could get banks lending again, projects would come back on line, our volume would increase and we’d be fine. Someone call Wall Street.

Second, we’re blessed with the best team in the business. Our sales staff is really a design staff, largely degreed in interior design with real world experience in that field. So our customers can be sure the person working on their art package can (and will) relate precisely to their entire project. Good design is no accident. Our sales staff knows this. But the production personnel are equally important and equally talented. For instance, Mrs. Ai, the person that does most of the fabric work in our shop is Vietnamese. She’s worked with us continuously for almost 20 years. She’s absolutely the best in Dallas and probably the smartest lady we know. In the old days, when we did all the display work for the Hard Rock Cafes worldwide, she figured out how to sew recording artists’ clothes to 3/4″ plywood with clear monofilament fishing line, a huge improvement over the metal staples our predecessors had used. And nothing’s changed. Yesterday, she sewed two (2) antique Chinese scrolls into the 8′ x 15′ frames we produced to display and protect them. Like everyone she works with, this wonderful friend is simply the best at what she does. My goal for the coming year is to keep this team together. It represents my promise to our company and our customers.

Third, we’re one of a select body of women-owned businesses officially recognized as such by the WBEN, a national authority. That designation, which we received a few years ago,  helps with our customers’ financing.  Now, we’re told we’re a mere SECONDS away from our GSA registration by the federal authorities in charge of that process. That will be important when it comes to servicing accounts subject to federal regulation. It’s not an easy process, but our CFO did a wonderful job of putting together the 4″ stack of documents required and so far, we’re told we can count on official approval this week or next. Me? I’ll believe it when I see it. Thank goodness for Mr. Duncan. I’m not good at things requiring patience. He is.

Fourth, our team is still suffering under our October Surprise cutbacks. That’s particularly true of Judy and me, since before we did anything, we took both of us off salary completely.  Everyone knows it could be awhile before the liquidity morass resolves itself. When it does, we’re looking forward to getting everyone back to their previous salary and production levels before we grow with new staff. Until then, like many small businesses, we’re all wearing a bunch of hats.

Fifth, we have an exciting, new IT package in the final stages of development. For the first time, customers will be able to review their jobs and do things like printtheir own  specification sheets (their form) directly from our databases. Access will be through our website with permissions assigned by our customers and defined by a typical log-on procedure. We’ve been “noodling” on how to accomplish this for many years. Last year, however, we decided to just bite the bullet and write our own program. The advantage on our side is it’s so much more efficient than our current (manual) system. Projects, jobs, workorders and purchase orders are handled electronically, ultimately in a paperless system. Having the data subject to review 24/7 by the customer should provide plenty of warning when we’re not on the same page. As we say on our loading docks, “it ain’t a mistake ’til it leaves”. With 11 years of organizing and shipping Hard Rocks all over the world as practice, we’ve earned the reputation of not making many mistakes and documenting shipments within an inch of their lives. Having this information available online throughout the design/production process should make the system even more reliable and efficient. We’ll see.

Lastly, Judy and I look forward to stepping back a little from the daily hustle-bustle of Our Favorite Company. We’ve been around forever and, while we try, there’s just NO WAY we’re capable of adapting as quickly or completely as our (slightly) younger associates.

You hear nothing but alarm (angst?) in the voices of guys our age when the subject turns to the generations  X, Millenial, Other. That’s ridiculous. They’re smart, confident, well-trained and far better adjusted than our generation ever was. They have the ability to “keep their eye on the prize” and work efficiently to effect a world-class outcome. What’s been something of a challenge has been to get the old guys (us) to understand just how they work. It’s different, but much more effective than we were taught in the old hierarchical models. We think those days are over.

These kids are to be taken very seriously because they’re really that good. Judy and I still need to be around for those increasingly rare times when our experience is needed. But the rest of the time, we’re little more than cheerleaders; glad to have a job at all.

Last time I went out on a limb and speculated about fate, progress and the inclination of the sun, I suggested that barring another 9-11, Art Dallas would be fine. Little did I know what fate had in store.  But we ARE fine. We WILL be fine. And we’re still working on ways to improve the service we provide to our clients. True, we’re making haste more slowly than we’d like. But we’re making progress. As one of my professors once told me, whatever we want to do will take 7dbs longer than we think. That’s a long, long time.  Surely we’ll be done before then.