Norman Ringdahl has always lived a life of creativity.
Not long after college and a bit of traveling around the region, Ringdahl, whose experience included a stint as a news photographer, met potters and crafters with whom he forged a vision: to create a space in the city to produce and promote works including fine art framing and ceramics. In 1974, the vision came true, in the form of a ceramic works gallery and framing service. The founder brought together their backgrounds in arts, crafts and education.
This year, The Prints and The Potter Gallery Custom Picture Framing & Gift Gallery celebrates 50 years, including changes of location, economy, the COVID pandemic, and uncertainties that may face any small business owner. The gallery makes its current home at 142 Highland St. in Worcester.
Also a fine arts painter, Ringdahl recently spoke about the gallery’s origins, and its five decades as a presence in the city’s arts and business community.
How did the (gallery) come to be?
I wrote a history of the gallery at one point, just to document things. The history starts after I graduated from arts school at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1972 … I decided I didn’t want to make Rochester my home base, so I moved back to New England.
I traveled a bit, took a summer off, traveled northeast — northern Maine, Canada and whatnot. I took at job at the Worcester New Recorder … I shot photography. I taught art history, picture framing and drawing and that kind of thing through Night Life (adult education).
Through Night Life, I met potters who were teaching at Night Life but Worcester Public Schools as well. They were renovating a little storefront (on Chandler Street.) … I decided to leave my job as a photographer with the newspaper, and joined forces with them … they had a functioning, producing ceramic studio, a potter’s wheel … they fired the pieces electrically in the basement. I set up a small frame shop in the basement. We had a small space for picture hanging.
We were there from 1974 to 1977, and kind of outgrew the space there … we started looking for a new space, and found a new space on Park Avenue.
We decided to move, and our expenses went up 10-fold … but it was a more visible, safer area, so we made the move, and kind of took over financial responsibility … I decided to change the name … after a month or more, I came up with the play on words, The Prince and the Potter, and adapt it to the prints and potter gallery.
We were not really visible. Mason’s Office Supply was in front of us. We had no display windows. The landlord gave us an option to take over the space at Manson’s … we had to break through a brick wall, and that doubled the space we had … I bought the building there, also on Park Avenue. We’ve been here ever since. We’ve kept the same concept: fine picture framing, handcrafted works.
Who are the potters?
The three potters we started out with — Jim and Linda Winegar, we are still very lose with. They have been in the Pittsburgh area, but we always continue to represent their work. The third partner, Louis D’amico, was a teacher at Doherty High School. He traveled to New Mexico.
What are things like now at the store?
It continues to be the same types of products for now, with a changing attrition rate, especially through COVID. A lot of people we’ve been working with in 1980s were getting to be in their 60s and 70s. Bill Campbell was nationally known. He retired at 85, about three or four years ago. But it’s the same model we’ve always had.
Two-dimensional art is local … painting and printmaking are more local to Worcester and surrounding towns.
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Some crafts are local, some regional … everything is all from studios. Nothing is manufactured. All strictly designed by the artists or craftperson, made by themselves. Woodworkers and glassblowers might have other assistants. It’s just a whole process.
(The store) encompasses the four major areas, which would be ceramic work — handmade pottery, all functional, that kind of thing, oven and dishwasther safe … jewelry of all sorts, blown glass of different types, vases, decorative themes, paperweights and that kind of thing; offices, accessories, cutting boards … and then we get into some fabric works — scarves, winter products … candles, handmade soaps, just smaller, pickup items.
So, 50 years is a long time. Was there ever a time you wanted to do something else?
Like all businesses, you go through periods where it’s not growing as much. The 80s were a boom time … we were becoming well known in the Worcester area. We had lots of good coverage from the local media, especially Worcester Magazine and that kind of thing … it was busy everywhere. People had some discretionary income. The economy was good. In the 90s, people started to downsize. I was upsizing in the ’90s. I thought it would continue to grow … I sort of learned the business by flying by the seat of my pants, making mistakes.
I credit success to the people I have worked with. They continue to be wonderful people. We have customers, great customers, who go back to the 80s and now are in the second or third generation.
Fifty years is a long time. You are right about that. There are things I used to be able to do that take more time. I have to be more conscientious of things I take on. When COVID hit, that was a bit of a shakeup. I didn’t think we’d survive. There were so many unknowns for many businesses … I didn’t know if we could sustain ourselves, but we did. We do have some online shopping, but not enough making it consistent. We really do rely on people walking into the brick-and-mortar location, basically.
What are your hopes for the future of The Prints and The Potter Gallery?
That’s a tough thing to answer. That kind of thing, we take it day by day, month by month, and year by year. We are always looking for new work … we just continue to do what we want to do.
I have two children, and the first grandchild born last year. They both have their own careers. My daughter went to (Massachusetts College of Art and Design). She is in Brooklyn, a school teacher. My son lives in Rhode Island, he and his wife. He said he didn’t want to go into the arts. I don’t care. Just sink your teeth into something and make a livelihood. He went into HubSpot (a software developer). It’s not the kind of business I can will down to my kids.
Things are going reasonably fine here. We’re getting ready for the holiday season. We’ve got new work ordered, and coming in … early November, getting prepared as we usually do … we’re going on 50 holiday seasons, so you kind of know what needs to be done.
