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The retail space in Reynolda Village, a former clothing boutique with bare walls and an empty counter, had been sitting vacant for a while when the seed of an educational collaboration began to sprout at Wake Forest University.

"I'd always thought that Reynolda Village was an interesting gateway to Wake Forest, and here was this space," says Page Laughlin, chairwoman of the Wake Forest art department.

The university, like so many others around the country, was focusing on creative ways that educational, cultural and recreational activities could intersect. When Laughlin saw the space, she envisioned an art gallery for students to show and sell their work.

After more than a year of intensive campus collaboration, START, the WFU Student Art Gallery, opened its first show Sept. 9. The approximately 1,250-square-foot space is filled with clean lines, a manageable scale for student shows, and plenty of potential for future students to gain experience in the business of the art world.

Gordon McCray, senior associate dean of undergraduate business programs, also was instrumental in getting START off the ground, as was Paul Bright, assistant director of the Charlotte and Philip Hanes Gallery.

"START is an intersection of different educational missions," says Laughlin, because in reality, START is a small business that needs to operate in a retail setting (and a popular one at that in Reynolda Village). "We are just scratching the surface of this potential and focusing on the best practices of our business model."

START not only showcases student art, but also gives students a chance to sell their work, giving collectors a chance to purchase artwork from emerging artists at the true beginnings of their careers.

The collaboration between the business school and the art department began when the two began working together on the course: management in the visual arts. The course provides both art and business students the essential skills, pragmatic experiences and a conceptual framework for understanding the role the visual arts play within the national and international economy. It's also where Caitlin Berry, START's inaugural gallery manager, found her passion.

"I was a communications major and minored in art, and I knew I wanted to do something with art and business, but I didn't know how they worked together," she says.

Now, after completing the course, graduation and a summer art internship in New York City, she's back in Winston-Salem as the post-baccalaureate gallery manager of this new venture.

"I am so happy and thankful to be part of this unique opportunity," Berry said.

And many more WFU students will have the opportunity to be a part of START. Student work is what fuels the gallery and, although the advisers are still working on the pacing of the shows, the sky is the limit as far as the scope of the art itself.

"There's no way we can know the direction the gallery shows will take. That depends on the direction the students take in their course work," Berry says.

Getting student work in the gallery is yet another layer of collaboration with the university.

Laughlin says that the "studio faculty have gone out of their way to get students involved, to generate excitement. (As students,) you get to see what you've really done, not stay in the realm of a working studio but get out into the public space."

Contact Stephanie Burt at charlotteghost@gmail.com

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