Photos Courtesy of Quint Scott
On Friday, Sept. 26, Tommy Lee and Gwen O’Neil — a photography graduate from East Hampton, New York — officially opened The Lee O’Neil Gallery on Bull & 49th St.
The couple came up with the idea and set the plan in motion in March. On spring break they were driving down to Florida to see Lee’s parents when he suggested the idea. “I was like ‘we should open a gallery,’ and Gwen was like ‘that’s awesome, we should do that.'”
Both Lee and O’Neil are photographers. Lee is a fourth-year photography major at SCAD and O’Neil graduated from the department this past May. “No we’re both painters which is kinda funny,” Lee said.
They negotiated a gallery space on Liberty Street until they came across a space on Bull & 49th St. when attending an event at Sulfur Studios, located right across from the space.
“The lights were on, it was totally empty…’that space is so sick, we have to have that.’ And then we were signing the lease like two days later,” Lee said.
When preparing for the gallery opening Lee turned to his friends, calling them to ask if they had any work to show at the event.
“Every day someone’s calling me… to the point where we’re turning people down,” Lee said.
The gallery opening was composed mostly of paintings ranging in size and form but also included a few experimental photographs. Both Lee and O’Neil had their own work up in the exhibit.
“We don’t have a prejudice against what kind of medium we have,” Lee said.
Although Lee and O’Neil do not turn away artists that work with other mediums, they mentioned that as painters they find themselves associating with other painters more. Some of whom include Terry Crimmen and Traeger di Pietro, who both had work up in the exhibit. Pietro and Lee worked together at the workshop on Martha’s Vineyard that Crimmer runs. Lee is originally from Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts.
“I’ve been inspired by him, he’s been inspired by me. We became art friends,” Pietro said.
Lee went over to Pietro’s studio to personally pick out the paintings he wanted for the opening.
“Certain paintings go certain places.” Pietro said. And when he picked these out he was like they are a solid bodies and they actually work together… they fit perfect.”
Crimmer and Lee are business partners on the vineyard and there studios are also right next to each other.
“He pretty much told me what he wanted. ‘I want that but bigger, I want that but smaller,'” Crimmer said. “I pretty much painted exactly what he wanted for this show. Which is kinda weird, something I never do.”
Both Crimmer and Pietro mentioned how amazing it is that O’Neil and Lee are both very young and already getting into the business.
“We call him ‘The Kid.’ Cause we’re older than him and he’s a baby,” Pietro said.
Like most students Lee and O’Neil fell in love with Savannah and wanted to make roots here. The low cost of living made it a perfect location for them to open up their gallery.
“It’s cheap being down here. Cheaper than New York,” O’Neil said. “It’s fun to try and do it while we’re here.”
The two represented 30 artists as they showcased work from SCAD students and alumni, as well as 
outside artists.
“We’re trying be a big one, an important one. Be legit,” Lee said when asked about their goals for the gallery.
In terms of future plans for the two artists, they wish to hold a show every month. Their next event will be on Oct. 23. Other future plans for the space itself include converting the backyard space into a sculpture garden.
For more information on The Lee O’Neil Gallery visit their website or their Facebook page.
Written by Asli Shebe.
Asli Shebe is a senior writing major from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. She began working for District in 2014 as a staff writer, then copy editor, A&E editor, Chief Assignment editor and finally, Editor-in-Chief in 2017. Asli currently holds the record for obtaining the most job titles during her time at District. When she’s not writing for District you can find her biking around the Historic District of Savannah at odd hours of the day.
