Meet Silvia Ferrari-Palmer | Co-owner of In Tandem Gallery – Bakersville NC

We had the good fortune of connecting with Silvia Ferrari-Palmer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Silvia, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I wanted to create a business that was sustainable, not too big, that specialized in ceramics w/ a bit of jewelry, and develop an online presence that would support the business in a small rural town.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Eight years ago I was in between jobs and thinking about the next step. While brainstorming, the idea of opening a gallery in our area, which has the highest per capita of artists than anywhere in the USA, seemed like a doable idea. Serendipitously, a historic building in town came up for sale which we purchased – providing us with a storefront – and a ceramics gallery in town was relocating. So, through multiple contacts and simply by reaching out, filling the gallery with fantastic work from all over the country happened pretty quickly. My first idea was to have only 40 artists, but that quickly expanded to where we are today with over 120 artists and 2-3 shows/exhibitions per month.

I started the ceramics gallery, with the full support of my husband who has a very long background in ceramics – as both a make and a teacher. He stepped in and did the things I had the least familiarity with while I focused on the marketing – graphics – website – photography – and accounting. He couldn’t really help much in the beginning due to a ‘non-competitive’ clause in his contract but once that was over a year later he was able to pick and organize the shows – create the displays – and do the maintenance and construction that was needed to make the gallery function better.

In the first 4 years, there wasn’t much balance between my personal life and my professional live. The gallery was absorbing a LOT of energy while we were getting established. Then, during COVID, the focus switched to promoting and marketing online primarily, which helped develop our customer base via the internet. Lately, my husband has been able to take on more duties and has allowed me to step back a bit and focus more on my won painting and artistic development.

I’m really not a risk taker. I will think about multiple plans, potential outcomes, ways to achieve my goals, and then make a decision. To me, this seems much more of a way to minimize risk – which is what I like.
I tend towards being very stubborn with a focused work ethic. If there’s something that’s new to me that would make me a better businessperson then I will be dogged about learning it and applying it – consistently.

The most important lesson would maintaining flexibility and to learn how to multi-task. There’s just so many things that need to be done, and you have to be aware of all of them; from customer service to various media marketing to paying the artists…. Etc. You can’t focus on one thing and neglect the others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We have stunning nature all around us, I will take her hiking for sure. Asheville is 1hr away and is full of delicious restaurants, micro brewery, art gallery and shops.
Burnsville, 30 min. away has two lovely and fun Brewery with music and food, Home Place and Birdfoot.
We have a amazing number of studio artists and Penland School of Craft is just a few minutes away.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
100% my husband Andy Palmer

Website: www.intandemgallery.com

Instagram: @intandemgallery

Facebook: www.facebook.com/InTandemGallery

Youtube: In Tandem Gallery @intandemgallery2242

Image Credits
IMG_7198.jpg – I think is by Michael Andrew gallery.jpg – Jack Sorokin