Meet Isabel Tassara | Owner and director at Coral Contemporary Gallery

We had the good fortune of connecting with Isabel Tassara and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Isabel, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I decided to create Coral Contemporary Gallery, I have been thinking about it for a couple of years before making the decision. To give a little bit of context for those who do not know my story, I worked in the art field for over 10 years. I started working with my mother that owns one of the most important art galleries in Argentina. I later continued working for other galleries in San Francisco and expanded my career by obtaining a master’s degree in museum studies. I decided to open my own art gallery when I knew I was ready and in the need of making my own decisions and creating my own journey. I wanted to take risks and be fully responsible for the functioning of my dream job. I remember I listed some pros and cons of starting it and I was super nervous but at the same time extremely excited. I also wanted to continue to develop and nurture new relationships with local artists hoping to learn and grow together, so I did. Today I continue to create my own path while I keep on learning along the way and could not be happier with the decision I made a couple of years ago, its all worth it including the ups and downs it involves. And to everyone out there that wants to start their own business, here is my humble advice: just (try to) do it. You will never regret that. Its time that you will spend on something you dream of, and that is the best investment of all.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
Coral Contemporary Gallery is a contemporary art gallery based in Miami, Florida. We work with emerging and established artists worldwide, representing their work and aiming to expand their boundaries and help them grow in all possible ways. We also intend to bring art closer to people that is why we just launched Coral Store on Shopify: a curated online series of works for people to access without moving around. Having a small business and specially an art gallery in a foreign country has never been easy but challenges are good because they keep you moving and make you learn even more. Our goal is always to get to know new artists and continue to nurture the relationship with the ones we already have. For 2020, before the pandemic occurred, we had many exciting things planned: shows with local and international artists, talks and events that had to be postponed. During the pandemic we managed to stay active through social media by connecting live with artists, art professors and curators. We also started developing Coral Store to facilitate access for people and bring art closer to them. I learned to never give up and to fight for what I want. When you have a small business and in a foreign country, you must keep going and pursuing your goals. Things can get hard but if you are organized and know what you want, every step counts and it will lead to achieve your final goal.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Museums: Rubbell Collection, Vizcaya Museum and The Bass.
Nice parks: Oleta Park and Legion Park.
Roadtrip: Sanibel and Cocoa Beach, beautiful places to visit and nice surf at Cocoa.
To eat: Mandolin, Cafe Prima Pasta and Osaka. 

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Harumi Abe – local artist and part of the gallery artists. First artist I met in Florida, super talented and nice person. Lucila Masciorini, photographer, friend and realtor in Miami.

Website: http://coralcontemporaryart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coralcontemporarygallery/?hl=es

Other: Coral Contemporary Store on Shopify: https://coral-contemporary-store.myshopify.com/

Image Credits
Monica McGivern and Mateo Serna Zapata