An Abundant Life - The Art Of Life

Shane Townley is an Artist with a creative passion and love of humanity and the earth that invests all he does with beauty, energy and life. I met him the first time at Urban Consign & Design, the store that Paul Fitzgerald owned in Hoboken that I have written about in these pages before. Shane had walked into Paul's store one day and suggested that he could start a gallery there, and when Paul was agreeable to the idea, Shane transformed the space and installed a gallery and filled it with his gorgeous art for a show. I'd heard about Shane from Paul, and when I was visiting one day and he walked in, we started talking about the work that was there and also his larger vision and the scope of his work that it turns out is all over the world. When I went home to do my research as I always do when I meet someone who says everything I like to hear, I found out that not only was he being modest, but that his experience and pedigree as an Artist and his passion for helping others, encouraging the creative life of other artists and the positive growth of children through art education and the donation of materials by The Townley Foundation, combined with his passion for bringing awareness to social justice and ecological issues make him a creative force in his own right that seems completely unstoppable. The Townley Foundation was started by Shane and his lovely wife Adela who is also so full of life and beauty and love that her energy creates its own momentum to inspire and give encouragement wherever she goes. I'm sure their life can't be easy with all of the wonderful work that they do, but whenever I see them they're smiling and energetic, taking time to talk to everyone with the same cordial grace. I wouldn't have believed it was possible to do as much as they do and to do it so well except that I've seen them time and time again talking about a project they're working on that when delivered exceeds all expectations.

The latest project, NYA Gallery at 7 Franklin Place in New York City is no exception to Shane's golden rule. I'd heard about the idea from him when I'd attended an opening at his studio space around the corner in TriBeCa a little over a year ago, but I'd had no idea of the magnitude of what he was going to create. He'd said at the time that he was looking into the possibility of taking over more space to help create artist studios and a larger gallery space, but to my mind that is long used to smaller New York City spaces and the relative compactness of even some of the most well respected galleries, the vision I had was at most a few thousand square feet. But when I walked into NYA Gallery for the opening last Thursday night and Shane took me on a tour of the building with some VIP guests who had arrived at the time time, I was astounded by the sheer volume and expanse of the art center he has created - over 9,000 square feet of exhibition space, with three levels including a gorgeous private entry from one of Manhattan's only remaining private streets and a dry climate controlled basement for safe storage. Shane's energy and passion in sharing the vision for the future of the space was infectious, and I was excited just by seeing and experiencing what he had already created there and more than uplifted by the beautiful art and the scope of the plan he'd put into motion.

NYA Gallery is the physical realization of NewYorkArt.com, a phone app and website Shane had started several years ago to help connect artists with opportunities within the art market. Irrix Screen, one of the Artists who I have written about in these pages before was a part of the opening show and is a member of NewYorkArt.com. He had sent me the invitation for this opening, and because I think Irrix is amazing I would have gone anyway, but then when I saw that this was Shane's project, I contacted the gallery to see if I could write a blog post about the event, the space, and their future plans. I can honestly say that in all my years of living in New York City I haven't seen a space for art like it. People have tried, and there have been some successes that have given me hope that it was possible to create something truly special, but NYA Gallery with the vision of Shane Townley behind it promises to bring us into a new age of sharing and creating and making art that will add a life giving mark on this great city.

Shane Townley

At The Opening Celebration

For NYA Gallery

7 Franklin Place

New York City

https://newyorkart.com/

Irrix Screen

With His Lovely Wife

And His Double Sided Painting

Blessings,

Jannie Susan