
Work by Darryl Erdmann, left, and Emily Brooks Edmunds, center, are part of Forsey’s new initiative to hang original work by local artists in their showroom.
Diana Alberghini told her bosses it was time to get rid of the prints. “We have really elevated furniture in here, so we need elevated art,” she told them. And that’s how Forsey’s Fine Furniture, a family-owned business that’s been around since 1951, became a gallery space.
Forsey’s operates two adjacent showrooms on Highland Drive, halfway between Salt Lake City’s Sugar House neighborhood and the new Millcreek city center—an area that has been a furniture and interior design center for the Intermountain West for more than a century. Three generations of Forseys have operated the business, which features more than 40 brands, “with a focus on American, Canadian and European home furnishings.” Alberghini, a native Rhode Islander who wields an unabashed East-coast directness, is a more recent transplant. She moved west to Los Angeles to work in art galleries, but “hated it, because everybody in the LA art world is awful.” Next she tried the Pacific Northwest, where she worked in furniture sales and interior design for six years. Two years ago, she followed her partner to Salt Lake City.
The idea to transform Forsey’s into a gallery space was hatched with co-worker Austin Lindsey, a designer and artist. (“The boss knows nothing about art,” Alberghini says.) Earlier this year, they began pushing to replace generic prints with original work by local artists. “It’s a win-win,” says Alberghini. “We beautify our walls and we give artists a space to show.”
This summer they began hanging work by Lindsey, Emily Brooks Edmunds, Sant Mengucek and Lizzie Wagner. They held a reception for the artists in June to announce the shift and plan to hold quarterly receptions for a rotating group of artists. More than three-quarters of their space now features original art, and on Thursday, Oct. 11, they’ll host a reception for four of their newest artists: Luke Anderson, Darryl Erdmann, Sarabeth Clevenger and Arden Tesch.

Emily Brooks Edmunds combines oxidized metal, metal texturing and painting to create her abstract work.

Work by Austin Lindsey, who with Diana Alberghini, has spearheaded the furniture store’s new initiative.
It’s a mix of established, mid-career and emerging artists. Clevenger has been making work for more than 70 years and will be represented by both landscapes and abstract work. Darryl Erdmann is a regular on the Utah scene (and 20 years ago he did something similar to Forsey’s initiative, hanging local art with mid-century furniture in his Retro gallery). Anderson shows in galleries Montana and Santa Fe and hanging at Forseys will give him the opportunity to experiment outside the niche of regular gallery work. Tesch is an emerging artist and is showing one of her first series. “She’s been honing it and we’re interested to see where she goes with it,” Alberghini says. “It’s one of those perfect examples of giving a little jumping off point for a younger artist.”
Wend your way through sofas and end tables and you’ll find work by more Utah artists: Janell James has been showing here for several years; Ryan Moffett, Lindsey’s former teacher, is represented by both functional ceramics and sculptures. Alberghini says their process of finding artists has been “loosey goosey”: they’ve invited artists they know, others that they’ve found online; a client might mention an artist friend and they’ve been happy to take a look and see if it’s a good fit. Interested artists are welcome to contact Alberghini and begin a discussion.

A sculpture by Ryan Moffett in front of works by Sarabeth Clevenger.

Works by Arden Tesch’s figurative work have been hung next to a wall of upholstery swatches.
When Utah’s private gallery scene first emerged in the 1950s, it was birthed in hybrid spaces like Forseys: furniture and clothing stores that also hung local art. With such spaces you lose the opportunity to see art in the way we have become accustomed to: in a white-cube, almost sacral space with no distractions; but some patrons like to see the art as it might appear over a couch. And hybrid spaces help overcome some of the hurdles of starting a gallery: you’ve already got walls, foot traffic and a paid staff.
Forsey’s is looking to expand their Utah art hang into their additional showroom, which features more traditional furniture and will require a different sort of art. Also, more of it: the space is almost 5600 square feet. Overall, though, the process has proceeded faster than Alberghini and Lindsey had imagined. “We were like, oh, in two years, hopefully we’ll have converted the space. And at this rate, it’ll be much less than that.”

On the floor, paintings by Luke Anderson (left) and a sculpture by Ryan Moffett (right) and paintings by Darryl Erdmann above.
Local Art Exhibit, Forsey’s Fine Furniture, 2977 S Highland Drive, Salt Lake City, Oct. 10 (reception 5 pm to 8 pm) – Nov.1. For information call or text 801.487.0777.
All images courtesy of the author.

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.
Categories: Gallery Spotlights | Visual Arts