Craven Allen Gallery

ABOUT PEG PALMER
Peg Palmer has a long history of involvement with the arts in Durham, most recently as the Executive Director of the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in 2008-2009. But visual art has always been her first love. She helped to organize the first Centerfest downtown; was involved in the renovation of the Durham Arts Council building; began one of Durham’s first serious art venues, the Ninth Street Gallery, in the ‘80s; and has served on the boards of the Durham Arts Council, the Durham Art Guild and the Nasher Museum of Art. A passionate collector of North Carolina artwork, she recently moved to Pennsylvania, although she maintains strong ties in Durham. Craven Allen Gallery approached her about showing some of her collection, a slice of the art history of the Triangle.

STATEMENT FROM THE COLLECTOR
When I had the gallery, naturally I saw a lot of work and bought what I loved, but also I was privy to the artists’ engagement in their art—and it was thrilling. I didn’t just buy what I liked; sometimes it was a feeling that was hard to define and honestly, sometimes it was what did not sell but should have, ones I just could not let go. In the past twenty years the arts have exploded in Durham, and there have been some wonderful opportunities to find new artists like Kathryn DeMarco, who did the Full Frame 10th Anniversary Print. Many of the works seem to me to be quintessentially North Carolina, like Donna Gregory’s amazing triptych of the Lucky Strike tower from three different perspectives. These are works that have held my fascination over time.