Third Times a Charm: Gallery Owner Moves Eastside Staple to Third & Final Spot
By now you have probably seen the new Malton Gallery at the intersection of Edmondson and Edwards roads. It most likely caught your eye months ago when construction began. Since then, you have been able to watch its progress if you passed that way to go to Rookwood or hop on I-71. This new home is the third location for the gallery, which has been an eastside staple for over a third of a century.
“The gallery opened in 1974, and I purchased it from the original owner well over a decade ago. So I’ve owned it for right around a dozen years by now,” says Sylvia Rombis from her second floor perch overlooking the new domain. “This is our third location, and I have to tell you, the next time they take me out of here, it will either be for retirement or in a box – I’m not moving again.”
For thirty-one years, the gallery resided on Observatory Ave. Which is where it stayed for the first few years under Rombis’ management, until she decided to move it over onto Erie Ave. in Hyde Park Square. Realizing that she had taken the gallery as far as should could in the space and location in the Square, she says the timing was just right to take advantage of a number of factors and move to the new property.
“I felt that as a renter, my opportunities were very limited. This way, I can finance my entire project and now I’m in the real estate business as well as the art business. I think this is a very unique gallery, and I felt that it really needed a space that can accommodate all the new, different, and unique things I wanted to do. This is a young, vibrant location. And its kind of like the stock market, you want to get in at the beginning. So I saw this opportunity and took it.”
Quickly pouncing on an opportunity seems to be Rombis’ style – which was the case when she acquired the gallery in the first place. A product designer by trade, she came to a crossroads both professionally and personally. When another company bought the company she was working for, she began having to split her work time between Cincinnati and White Plains, New York. With two young children at home and an urge to make a change, she just went for it.
“I asked myself ‘What would I really like to do with my life?’ And amazingly, the answer just popped in my head the moment that I asked it out loud. I had been a long-time client of the owner, so I called and said ‘I’m facing a career change and I’d like to buy your gallery.’ I thought for sure he would laugh and turn me down.”
Instead, she was informed that retirement was on the horizon for the owner, and a meeting was set up. Within two weeks a deal was struck.
After spending a dozen years cultivating relationships with clients, Rombis is confident that her regular clientele will follow her to the new spot. She is looking forward to meeting new prospects that she hopes to turn into not just art fans, but art collectors. And the new space is designed to do just that. While the size is roughly the same, the volume of the space is vastly different. Essentially it is just a giant rectangle with windows and walls. Rombis intentionally kept the building void of any real design detail in order to allow the art to be showcased no matter where it is displayed.
“The idea is not to stuff the place full of things, but allow each piece of art on display to find its home,” Rombis says. But with thousands of pieces in the Malton Gallery collection, what happens to all the works not on display on the two main floors? The answer lies in a sixty-five inch flat screen mounted on the first-floor wall.
Rombis beams as she explains the television’s purpose. “This lets me do a number of really cool things. Most importantly, it allows me to walk clients through the thousands of pieces we have which neither the client nor I would have time to physically rifle through. Many people will come in and see something they like, but may need a piece that is larger, or horizontal, or perhaps more traditional. But, whether someone comes in knowing exactly what they want, or just has a vague idea, I’m able to go into our website or our database and pull up everything that I have. I can work with the client and find exactly what they need, then take them downstairs where we house all the pieces and pull out exactly what they want without having to sift.”
But the new Malton Gallery is designed to be more than just a place to browse and buy art. The plan is to continue with openings, usually consisting of a two-dimensional artist and a sculptor, as well as become a place for more events and fundraisers. Rombis will concentrate on smaller events that are intimate interactions in which people can meet the artists and have an opportunity to connect, experience, and ultimately take part in what is going on with the art that they love.
August 6th: Ribbon cutting ceremony with Council member Leslie Ghiz and other city officials.
September 26th: Grand opening show for artist Richard Allan George.
October 16th: Party of Note Fundraiser for Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra.
