Over dozens of cruises, I passed the Park West Gallery and never thought much about it. On a few occasions, I sent my wife home a photograph of a painting, sculpture, or some other piece of art that caught my eye.
The art looked a lot like Effy's jewelry or the in-flight stores that sell watches that cost more than my car. There must be an audience for those retailers, but it certainly wasn't me.
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Additionally, while many cruises offered art seminars, I always dismissed them as barely hidden sales pitches. This is a reasonable assumption on a cruise, as the various port shopping seminars, acupuncture or IV therapy classes, and liquor tastings are just excuses to sell.
However, that's where Park West, the company that runs the onboard galleries, breaks with cruise line tradition. I attended Royal Caribbean's Utopia of the Seas art seminar at the invitation of the gallery's lead auctioneer, Slavio Correia.
It wasn't what I expected by any means and it was one of the rare times I learned something (actually a lot of things) at a cruise event.
Image source: Daniel Kline/ComeCruiseWith.com
Park West wants you to appreciate art
During an art auction, Correia has an energy that falls somewhere between a forceful preacher and that section of the show where Bruce Springsteen talks about the power of music. As a seminar leader, he has the same energy, but transfers it to his love of art.
In the hour-long event, Correia teaches a master class on how art is created. He lectures, but in a way that is welcoming to people who know absolutely nothing about fine art and enlightening to people who have a knowledge base.
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At no time does Correia try to sell anything to passengers; Instead, he shares his love of art and gives people the tools to more fully appreciate what is being sold.
Some of the knowledge shared will be useful during an art auction, but that never seems to be the point. Correia, over the course of a fast-moving hour, casually analyzes data about his own collection and shares why he was drawn to certain artists.
Park West Auctions Welcome
In addition to the seminar, Correia and his team are hosting an invitation-only auction and an auction open to the public. At both events, it seemed like every team member had a personal interaction with every person in the room.
During the invitation-only event, it became clear that members of the artistic team had personal relationships with many of the attendees. They knew what each person collected and the artists they were interested in.
It was an invitation-only event, but just being there clearly made you part of the club. Correia and his team made everyone feel comfortable, even though it was a sales event, there never seemed to be any pressure to buy.
That continued into the main auction, which included everything from $50 prints of Hanna-Barbera's “Wacky Races” exhibit equipment from the 1970s to works by masters like Picasso.
Correia kept the aspect of artistic education as the common thread of the entire event. As she sold individual works or put together packages to sell together, she explained who the artists were and how each piece fits into her portfolio.
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Even if you left without buying anything, you left the auction richer than when you entered. You may have known Peter Max because of his history with the Beatles, but Correia gave you much more about him. That made it much easier to appreciate who would like to own a work by someone with Max's deep history or purchase a piece by a newer artist like Kre8.
Yes, Park West sells art, but in doing so it is working to build understanding and appreciation of the works found in its galleries.
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