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Conroe Mourns the loss of gallery owner |
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Many area people, including a number of representatives of the area’s visual arts community gathered on July 7 to pay tribute to Catherine “Cathy” Cook, who lost her two-year battle with breast cancer on July 1. An engaged supporter of downtown Conroe revitalization, with a strong interest in art honed during her college years and through previous gallery experience, Cathy opened the Gallery Off the Square at 202 N. Main Street, Conroe in 2009. While the Gallery Off the Square specialized in displaying and selling the work of Thomas Kinkade, Cathy quickly realized that there was at that time very little space in downtown Conroe to exhibit the work of area artists. Very soon after opening the Gallery Off the Square, Cathy offered some of her multi-room gallery space to showcase the work of such local artists as: Joe Kolb; Theresa Thornhill, Teri Harris, Lois Blackburne, Dave Clements and Anniedean Creel. Though they have moved to other venues, two other area artists, landscape painter John Porter and sculptor Craig Campobella were afforded not only space for exhibiting in Cathy’s gallery, but also studio space for creating their artwork. Opening one month after they did, Cathy worked closely with the owners (Joe and Jean Fleshner) of the former Linda Watson Gallery to host a variety of simultaneous monthly receptions and other community art related events. |
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Wanting to enhance opportunities for area children to experience the visual arts, Cathy organized such activities as “paint-ins,” at her gallery to allow the children to not only create artwork, but also sell their artwork, often to raise money for various worthy causes. She also engaged young people in painting and selling ceramic mugs and, at Halloween, Cathy held children’s pumpkin-carving contests. A strong supporter and a key player in the promotion and funding of the annual Chalk Up Conroe event, Cathy also participated each year as a chalk artist, even this past year when her health was declining. |
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Though her gallery management responsibilities left little time for creating her own artwork, Cathy was a member and strong supporter of the Conroe Art League. Hoping to draw more people to the downtown Conroe arts district, even though it made for very long days, Cathy worked hard to make sure her gallery was open daily and during evening hours when the Gallery at the Madeley Building and other downtown Conroe galleries were open. Tirelessly, Cathy also kept her doors open for long hours to greet guests at other special downtown Conroe evening and weekend community events, such as centennial celebrations, KidzFest and the Catfish Festival. At her own expense, Cathy always had trays of appetizers and drinks available to help welcome gallery visitors during these special evening events. When organizers for the Rhett Foundation scheduled a day of activities in downtown Conroe to help increase awareness of the disease and raise funds for its research, Cathy was amongst the first to ask how she could help. The space Cathy set up as “Chelsea’s Tea Room,” at her gallery which hosted numerous private small group events, also provided at times a welcome gathering place for many area artists and on occasion a setting for photo shoots by area photographer Dave Clements. Cathy Cook cared about the area and made a significant contribution not only to downtown Conroe but to many in the area’s visual arts community. She will be missed. |
