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BACKGROUND TO ENTERING THE ART WORLD

 

Chris May, (CM), had a lot of luck in his early career building a national insurance business from scratch.

 

After selling this business he became involved in a major resort development in remote Victoria, involving the planning and construction of the resort. Most importantly he supetrvised all sales, marketing and operation activity. An important part of the sales and marketing activity was promotion to both domestic and international tour groups to increase visitation.

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The resort development was to prove a disaster with interest rates hitting 17.5% at the Reserve Bank and the lender going into liquidation.

 

The extensive tourism and hospitality expertise was recognised with CM being approached to consult other entities to increase their sales. An example is a two year full time consultancy to Sydney Tower Restaurants, which included all of the three levels at the top of Centrepoint Tower and the Tavern underneath. The previous sales and marketing experience in the resort development was to prove invaluable. Inovative programmes based on this knowledge included Behind the Scenes Tours of Sydney Tower and The State Theatre resulting in literally tens of thousands of new bookings

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As the Sydney Tower Consultancy was coming to an end fate was to play a part in CM entering the art world. Part of the sales and marketing activity at the resort was to regularly have an artist in residence. One artist and his wife had become friends and they asked CM to turn their little Gallery Operation into a business.

This consultancy was to lead to over three decades of involvement in the art world. CM and his Associates bring forth a wealth of expertise.

 

The key objective was to create a business which would give the artist the economic freedom to explore new subjects and undertake major projects.
 

With the introduction of advanced technology, some rebranding and the recruitment of some top salespeople, (whom CM had previously employed in other businesses), the artists income went to an annual multi-million-dollar level within three years.
 

CM had never been part of the art establishment; he could not draw two straight lines with the help of a ruler and had no preconceived ideas of the path forward.
 

On taking up the role his research indicated that very few members of the public, (if any), ever read the art columns in the press which, (before Google and social media), were the main source of art news. CM formed the opinion that these articles were often pretentious and required a thesaurus and/or a dictionary to understand what they were about.

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He set out to attract the public rather than the art critics and the art establishment.

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The CM and Associates Consultancy boasts a proven track record in overseeing the fruition of art projects tailored to be of interest to the public.

 

Throughout his extensive career, he has facilitated sales and tax effective rentals of art totalling tens of millions of dollars, thereby enabling numerous artists to sustain themselves through their craft.
 

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH ART
 

CM has a proficiency in understanding and organising art that appeals to the public. This led to prestigious appointments for the artist.
 

Prior to entering the art world as a management consultant in 1992 CM had never been part of the art establishment, he could not draw two straight lines with the help of a ruler and had no preconceived ideas of the path forward.
 

CM set out to attract the public rather than the art critics and the art establishment.
 

The research of CM indicated that sport held the most interest for readers of the press and he organised the artist to create art around themes of sport designed to appeal to the public.
 

This led to prestigious official appointments for the artist including his appointments as the Official Artist for the Australian Olympic Team, at the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, Official Artist for the VRC Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne and Official Artist for Formula One. These organisations promoted the art created and the art totally engaged the public.

 

NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS ENGAGING THE PUBLIC AND PRESS
 

The artist was also appointed to create the Sesqui Centenary Painting to celebrate the centenary of the incorporation of The City of Sydney in 1992 with the city promoting the art created.
 

A second Open Day for the public at the Sydney Town Hall was organised in the following year to support Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympic Games. This involved organising over 50 Olympic Medallists to come to Sydney, from all over Australia, to support Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Games.
 

Many of these Olympians performed on stage and were incorporated into the official painting of the Australian Olympic Team with the artist painting live.
 

Likewise, the Artist was appointed to complete the Official Portrait of Mother Mary MacKillop which was presented to His Holiness John Paul II on the Alter at St Mary’s Church, Sydney, (for inclusion in the Vatican Collection), at the time of her Beatification in 1995. Again, this was promoted by the Catholic Church with a touring exhibition around Australia. These exhibitions were orchestrated to promote the artist and engage the public and press.

 

ORGANISING LARGE SCALE ART PROJECTS
 

In addition to traditional gallery exhibitions, CM excels in orchestrating large-scale special events that captivate public interest.
 

Noteworthy among these projects was the organisation of a touring exhibition of over 30 preparatory works and the final Portrait of Mother Mary MacKillop.
 

The Mary MacKillop Exhibition travelled 22,000 kilometres across Australia in 53 days travelling overnight and enabling the exhibition to be shown in 50 different venues from not only large cities but also regional Australia.
 

MAKING ART ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE FOR THE PUBLIC
 

CM organised affordable access for the public to acquire the art created by the artist for these important official appointments in this pre digital printing period. These official artworks displayed the logo of the various sports and were published as Limited Editions using offset printing. The result was a substantial take up by the public acquiring artworks they could relate to.
 

This public support allowed CM to expand the Gallery operation to concurrently operate premises in NSW, VIC and Queensland.
 

Over the years CM has opened and operated 18 Galleries, with up to 6 being operated at one time. Most Galleries were operated in high profile city locations in NSW, Vic and Q'land. CM has also conducted numerous exhibitions in Eastern and Western Europe, China, Asia and the US.
 

CM relinquished this consultancy role after the Atlanta Olympics and formed CWM Galleries in 1997 with an initial focus on sculpture.

ENTHUSIASM FOR SCULPTURE
 

From his international experience, CM recognised that Australia lacked adequate representation of sculpture in enduring materials. He embarked on a mission to rectify this.
 

Initially, he provided sponsorship to a select few sculptors to initiate their projects. This endeavour gained momentum over time as other sculptors observed the success of this representation and approached his galleries for similar opportunities.
 

Consequently, CWM Galleries consistently showcased a diverse collection of over 200 sculptures crafted from a very wide range of enduring materials.
 

Original sculpture is expensive so just as he had previously published Limited Editions of paintings CM organised affordable access for the general public to acquire sculpture by casting Limited Editions of many creations.
 

CM has supplied hundreds of sculptures to the public from pieces weighing under 10 kg to several tonnes.

CLOSURE OF THE RETAIL GALLERIES
 

During Covid the Government mandated that Galleries could not trade and the artworks were removed to storage with the Gallery ceasing to trade and the website being taken down.
 

However, after more than 30 years involvement CM missed the relationship with artists and the public. In due course he resolved to create a Consultancy with Associates who had vast knowledge of all facets of the art world which has resulted in the formation of The CM and Associates Consultancy.
 

IN SUMMARY
 

CM and his Associates have well over 30 years’ experience with every facet of the art world both within Australia and Internationally. This experience is equalled by few if any in the Australian Art World.

This experience underlines the problem-solving abilities of the Consultancy and make it a trusted partner in realising artistic visions, ensuring successful outcomes for all stakeholders involved.

The experience in delivering minor or major projects on time and on budget is an invaluable skill when a developer has a requirement to provide public art as a requirement of a Development Approval.

Above everything else CM has a long record of utilising technology to achieve success.

The services being offered by the Consultancy are detailed under the heading HOME on this web site.
 

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