To Adapt is to Survive

Conde Contemporary makes Natchez its new home.

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When the winds of the COVID-19 pandemic finish blowing through the small businesses of America, it remains to be seen where they will all fall to earth. One interesting case is that of the fine art gallery Conde Contemporary, which will this month complete a relocation from Coral Gables, Florida to Natchez, Mississippi—a move that Stacy Conde, owner of the primarily Latin American gallery, is quick to acknowledge might seem counterintuitive. 

But take a couple of things about our new ‘normal’ into account—namely that we’ve all gotten used to shopping online, and the vast disparity in real estate prices between Miami and Mississippi—and the gallery’s move begins to add up. Add that Conde (née Goodman), a Miami native, spent summers visiting family in rural Mississippi while growing up, and everything begins to make sense. When she was a child … “Natchez was ‘town’,” Conde said. “If you needed to go to the eye doctor or wanted to go out to eat, Natchez was the place.” 

Once Conde Contemporary opens, Natchez will be the place to find works by highly regarded Latin American artists—and an artists’ teaching studio, too. “We’ve been dreaming about relocating the gallery to Natchez and opening a teaching artist residency program for years,” Conde noted, explaining that she and husband, Andres Conde, have been prioritizing the gallery’s online presence, and its participation in art fairs nationwide, since 2013. “We still see the value in brick and mortar but are no longer willing to pay the astronomical premium of doing business in Miami,” Conde said. “We really can live where we want, reduce our overhead and … invest in a community we love and assist in its recovery by utilizing the power of art as a socioeconomic driver.” Conde is referring to the successful effects of art on economic development, as demonstrated by the effects of a vibrant art economy in towns from Bilbao, Spain, to Marfa, Texas; Bentonville, Arkansas, and beyond. 

Conde Contemporary will open at 334 Main Street, Natchez, by mid-June. condecontemporary.com.