Occasionally these days I run across a comment by some fur(s) who are curious about what Furry was like "in the old days"... Or, how furry is different from what is was in the past. When I respond to these comments, I usually say that as far as I'm concerned, it hasn't changed all that much. I expect many of these curious younger fans are asking about the "dark times" they have heard about, usually from the same sort of people that started the stupid rumors about Furry, often based on stuff others just made up whole cloth, or exaggerated out of all logic. Unfortunately, these tall-tales are still being told, by various trolls who do it for "the lulz", or want to re-write the history of the fandom to make themselves (them being late to the game) more "important". Oh well...

There were some important differences in Furry and what became furry in the early years of the community. A lot had to do with the contributing artists and the art they produced. Since there was no "furry" as we know it before the 1980's (furry, not funny animal or underground comic fandom), the artists were into funny animals and underground comics. They became the giants upon who's shoulders the younger furry artists eventually stood. The art back then was different, too. It was much more "traditional", that is, it was usually sketched on some kind of paper, and colored with some physical medium like paint or colored pencil. The art produced was physical, usually an original work, a hand colored print, or is some instances, a high-quality print that cost a lot to produce. This meant that if you wanted to have furry art, you either had to make it yourself, or acquire it somewhere. The eventual place (starting in 1989) to get art was at Furry conventions. Besides the social networking aspects, the single most important reason for a Furry convention was the Art Show, and secondarily the Dealers Den. Back then, few artists (Terry Smith comes to mind) had the ability to make acceptable quality prints to sell in any quantity. Terry went through a painstaking process of color testing her markers so she could get acceptable results from color Xerox, the first "cheap" (it wasn't that cheap, either...) process for easily making prints of art. Photo prints were also made by some artists (Steve Marten, for example), at much greater expanse. Those who purchased these early prints discovered that they weren't exactly archival quality, either. Other artists followed their example, and it became possible, finally, to collect furry art.

But... it you wanted to see and purchase the real thing, you had to buy the originals and few archival prints available at a Furry convention Art Show. Some ConFurence art shows had over 400 pieces of art, from hundreds of artists. Organizing an Art Show of that size was a daunting task. Finding and paying for ample function space, providing transportable panels for display, setting everything up, dealing with the shipping and receiving of non-attending artists, and the paperwork, not to mention having to deal with 100 or more artists... It was amazing we were able to pull it off! Current Furry conventions have art shows, but it appears that the really big Art Shows are a thing of the past. Convention organizers should be grateful...

I believe that Furry Art is one of the most creative and amazing genres of 2-D and 3-D art in existence. I may not be a professional art critic, or have a PHD in art, but I do have some art history educational background, and I do know what I like. I have always thought that Furry art belonged everywhere other traditional art existed. This includes in public accessible commercial art galleries. Amazingly, with the tremendous amount of traditional medium Furry art available, there have been very few real gallery shows highlighting Furry art. Some professional artists, Alicia Austin comes to mind, have had gallery shows and sold their art in stores. Her art is considered by the art distribution industry as American Native or fantasy art, though we (and she) considers it also to be Furry. A few years ago, somebody arranged to have Furry art displayed in an independent gallery in San Jose. The show dates corresponded to the dates of Furthur Confusion, and many convention attendees made the trip to the gallery to view several Furry artist's work, along with the general public. It was really cool! I don't know if anything else like this has happened since... except for today.

Today, I got to install a gallery exhibit of art from 5 local Furry artists, in a commercial gallery. This is a dream I had for over 30 years, and it today, it finally came true! It's a small display, only 11 pieces on one long wall in a small gallery, but it's there for everyone to see, along with other art by famous and not-so-famous local "fine" artists. I certainly cannot take all the credit, nor even that much of it, for this monumental event. My mate, Rod, made the initial contact with the owner of the Avantgarden Gallery in the Artist's Colony of Santa Ana, California. He made all the arrangements, then relentlessly pursued, cajoled, badgered and poked local Furry artists to submit their work. Anyone with any experience dealing with Furry artists can attest that this is close to an impossible task, and certainly not for the feint at heart. Rod also took care of the paperwork, collected the fees, paid the gallery, and created the information cards for the show and the individual pieces. Certainly, Rod is responsible for the lion's share (even though he is a mink...) of the work, and deserves the credit for making this possible.

I (and my mate Changa (who is a lion...) , who I convinced to enter a small sample of his incredible photography) got to transport the art to the gallery and install it. The gallery owner was amazed at how well we were prepared for the task and how good the display turned out. This was no accident, since I had a lot of previous experience with art shows, from my big Art In Animation show at Cal Poly Pomona in 1975, to helping out with ASIFA Hollywood art shows, Comic Con and SF con art shows, and of course, Furry con art shows. When we stood back and looked at the finished display, the different mediums and styles and presentations, and then looked around the rest of the gallery, the Furry art didn't look out of place at all. It was just as legitimate as any other art in that gallery or any other gallery in the world. But, this was Furry art... and it was in a real art gallery. Finally.

The art is part of the current show at Avantgarden Gallery, located in the Santora Building, Suite B-7B, 207 North Broadway Santa Ana, CA 92701. The announcement, from the gallery's web site, including the dates adn times, is below. I hope you can make it!

AVANTGARDEN is proud to present "Women Desperately Seeking Escape...a Series" photographically captured on film and digitally by ELLEN SEEFELDT. We also welcome JAY RIGGIO'S hand cut pasted collage work, SHARLYNORA WILKINSON'S paintings, and The Art of Furry Fandom, curated by RODNEY STANSFIELD. This exhibit runs June 1 - 29, opening reception June 1, 7 - 10 pm during the First Saturday Art Walk.

We are open the First Saturday of each month in conjunction with the Santa Ana Artists Village Art Walk, 4 – 10 pm. Friday 5 - 9 pm, Saturday 1 - 10 pm, Sunday noon - 4 pm