We are capable of more than we think
We all have experienced moments where we overcame the impossible, materialized a solution, and got it done. It often takes a lot of work and a relentless desire to see a project to completion.
In 2011, my artist Andrea Mastrovito was commissioned to do a full store installation at the then flagship of Sephora on 5th Avenue. Mastrovito was known for his elegant hand-cut paper figures in lush landscapes. The Sephora project was ambitious. Not only were the windows to be filled with fairy-like dioramas, but the entire store was to be peppered in paper sculpture.
Mastrovito and his assistants completed the majority of the paper hand-cutting themselves. The only thing that had to be fabricated were two steel boxes for the windows. I was put in charge of that.
There’s a first time for everything, and I enjoyed the challenge of finding a fabricator to do the work. Here’s where a longer story (perhaps a full chapter in a memoir) would begin..but let me get to the point:
The fabricator I chose was someone that had done metal work for me before. When I reached out to him, I talked to his wife. They sometimes worked together on projects. She came out to Sephora, took the measurements, gave me an estimate, and put the completion date on her calendar.
What I didn’t know was that the two were separated and were no longer living or working together. When I asked to speak to Bob (not his real name), I always got an excuse and was never told the real reason why he could never come to the phone.
As the deadline approached, I was met with excuses, and a delay in fabrication seemed imminent. The challenge was that I was dealing with a corporate giant that was launching a national Christmas campaign around this installation, and there was no way this was not being installed the day before Thanksgiving.
On the scheduled day of delivery, my fabricator said she couldn’t get a truck to deliver these to the store. She was a 90-minute drive from the city. These boxes were 8’ x 8’ x 4’. Steel. I couldn’t just rent a van. Plus, she said they weren’t ready.
What should I do?
What would you do?
This is when the magic begins…when you see no apparent solution and everyone is telling you no, this can’t be done.
Whether these were ready or not, I knew that they had to be picked up that day so that Mastrovito and crew could install that evening for the store to be fully decorated and open at 10 am the next day.
I looked for trucks that I could rent to accommodate these boxes. There was no truck that I could legally rent and drive that would be big enough. I was stuck.
As I was coming up to my gallery building, I saw a large box truck sitting outside. The driver was finishing his lunch. He spoke very little English so I raced into my building asked my doorman (who was Dominican) if he could ask the driver if he would be willing to do me a favor. For $500, would he drive up to the fabricator’s shop, pick up these steel boxes and deliver them to Sephora?
He said he would!
When I told the fabricator I was coming up, she warned me not to come.
DONT’T COME UP!
Well, we were coming up.
Not wanting to leave the driver in a sticky situation, I drove up with Mastrovito in a separate car to see that things went smoothly.
Well, they didn’t. The driver arrived first. She wouldn’t let him in her shop, and she again warned me not to come up.
When we finally did arrive, indeed, the boxes were not finished. We waited there another three hours, and she did the best she could with them. Not completely done, but good enough.
We drove back down with the boxes, met the crew at Sephora at 11:30 pm. I bought everyone pizza, and beer, and the job got done, finished at 6 am the following morning.
I think back on this day and always use it as a bedrock example of when I am committed to something happening, I find a way (with a little help and magic) to get it done. The process isn’t always comfortable, but the results are worth it.
Is there a project, goal, opportunity that you think is impossible or highly unlikely that you are not even trying to do? Have given up? Now may be the time to take that first step or if you are close or in the middle, bring it on home. When you set a deadline, or one is set for you, it’s amazing what falls into place.
Share your story with me.
Michael Foley opened his gallery in the fall of 2004 after fourteen years of working with notable photography galleries, including Fraenkel Gallery, Howard Greenberg Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In 2002, Foley continued his interest in educating and working with artists by serving on the School of Visual Arts and International Center of Photography faculty. He currently teaches and lectures on contemporary photography issues at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
In 2020, he founded The Photo Community, which offers classes and commentary on contemporary photography.
Foley lives and works on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.