By Michele Deluca
Niagara Gazette
NIAGARA FALLS —
Don King has worked for years to bring better things to the Niagara region. He has also tried to send better things out of the region, namely his mother’s artwork.
King is a 32 year member of the Board of Education member, he sits on the library board and just retired from the Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital board after thirty-two years.
Through all the years of service, the other mission consuming the energy of the former clothing shop owner, and that is to bring attention to his mother’s legacy.
Polly King was a prolific painter whose work fills the rooms of her home on Chapin Parkway. Now a museum and gallery, the site has been the main showplace for her work, but through the years Don has opened a couple of other storefront galleries in an effort to share her work with the region, including one he says he really liked at the now-closed Summit Mall.
Recently King opened a new gallery of Polly King’s work in the lobby of the Crown Plaza, in hopes of sharing her work with the world.
This gallery, he says, is his new favorite spot. His mothers paintings, both original and reproductions, are displayed in a corner of the hotel’s lobby, among giant exotic plants and the continual stream of tourists from around the world.
Recently he spent a few moments talking about his efforts, past, present and future, with a Gazette reporter.
QUESTION: Wow. You’ve been promoting your mom’s work for a long time now. How is it going?
ANSWER: I don’t know if promoting is the right word. I want her to be recognized.
Q: What kind of recognition are you looking for?
A: One of the reasons I’m here is I’d like to expand her recognition from a regional artists to an international artist. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the people I see in these hallways are not from Niagara Falls.
Q: So, this is a nice space you have here. How would you describe it for our readers?
A: With all the things you read about in Niagara Falls you wouldn’t think there is a space this nice in the entire city. This is a wonderful space.
Q: You’ve had other nice spaces in historic places. I’ll bet you have some good stories. Tell me one.
A: I was in the lobby of the Hotel Niagara 45 years ago when the Indian Room was the place to be in Niagara Falls. I was also in the Treadway Inn... those shops were my Wellesley Dress Shops but they also included art. One night I was there about ten o’clock checking the store and this couple came by and the husband said, ‘if they were open I’d buy you anything in the place.’ I said to the man, ‘you’re in trouble,’ and I opened the shop for them. They bought a couple hundred dollars worth of stuff and became good friends.
Q: You seem particularly fond of this new space. Why?
A: I liked my gallery at the Summit. It reminds me a little of this space. Very classy. This lobby looks like it could be in any major city. And it has a Starbucks right next to it!
Q: The photo album you have here is remarkable. All these beautiful women Polly painted. What can you tell me about them?
A: We have records of close to 200 people. They were very prominent people in Niagara Falls in the 1930s to 1980s. The album is an historic chronicle of community personalities and her friends. She had a wide variety of friends.
Q: When are you at the gallery?
A: I come everyday. Some mornings, some evenings. There are buses here everyday. I’ve met people from India, Germany, Latin America, from all over the world. I’m finding the best patterns. I know I’m better off (talking to visitors) when they’re checking in rather than checking out. They’re more relaxed.
Q: So, you kind of have a captive audience? Are they receptive?
A: Ninety percent of them aren’t thinking of a piece of art when they come to Niagara Falls. That’s where I came to the idea of art as a souvenir. I’m merchandising this space with art items that can be souvenirs, rather than compete with the souvenir shops, i.e.. bags and reproductions.
Q: Tell me about your reproductions?
A: I’ve always believed highly in reproductions ... I encourage people to come and touch the work. They look for the feeling of texture because the art has so much texture in it, but its a flat reproduction. Plus the color is very true.
Q: What do people seem to like about your mother’s work.
A: When I mention the word ‘mother’ it brings me closer to the visitor, because mothers are held is high esteem. When I say my mother has painted almost all the things in here they kind of warm up to me.
Q: What’s your dream for your mom’s work?
A: My goal is for a person who I’ve never met before to visit the gallery and fall in love with Polly King’s work, and their just happening to be a world class art dealer with lots of money and they say, let’s partner.
