William Morrison, who runs a gallery in the town of Kent, has opened a 25,000-square-foot facility in the small getaway village.
About two hours north of New York City lies the leafy art enclave of Kent, Connecticut.
Though the town only has a few thousand residents, it is nevertheless home to a surprising number of modern and contemporary galleries and top-tier collectors.
Now longtime local gallerist William Morrison of Morrison Gallery has added a new art destination to the Kent map: a sprawling, 25,000-square-foot state-of-the-art storage facility called Morrison Art Storage.
William Morrison in the viewing room at this newly launched storage facility. Courtesy of Morrison Gallery.
While “storage facility” might not immediately set ringing the mental bells of excitement for most of us, Morrison says that for local collectors and weekenders—who have been spending more and more time at second homes of late—the newly launched space has the potential to double as something special: an epic personal viewing room.
“The building is like Fort Knox. It’s a beautiful giant building, double-story height, and it’s just really cool,” said Morrison, who was formerly a professional guitarist before establishing his gallery in Kent in 1998.
“My clients can come here and book the viewing room for the night. It’s like a Chelsea gallery—but it’s all yours. They can come by on Saturday night with two or three friends, drink some wine, and I can hang their art for them.”
Courtesy of William Morrison Gallery.
The other benefit of Kent, says Morrison, is a whole lot of flexibility for collectors.
“I live two miles up the road,” Morrison said. “Sometimes collectors will call me after a long day and say, ‘Hey, we can’t make it today. You’re probably not available tomorrow.’ And I’ll tell them that actually I’m around all day. I live here.”
That accommodation has been a “big plus for a lot of people,” he said.
Courtesy of William Morrison Gallery.
Despite opening the facility in the midst of a pandemic, Morrison has already seen traction with collectors, almost all of it by word of mouth.
“There’s more New Yorkers than locals in town lately,” he mused.
Morrison, who is currently running his gallery by appointment, is meanwhile onto the next project. In the spring of 2021, he’ll be opening a new 6,000-square-foot gallery space in Kent, and while he doesn’t want to let the cat out of the bag, he’s already planning the opening exhibition—one he promises will make “a big, big impact.”
