Cerbera Gallery

Cerbera Gallery, at 2011 Baltimore Ave in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, is a salon-style contemporary gallery known for its ceramics program and unconventional hang — founded in 2016 by German-born collector and entrepreneur Philipp Eirich after his wife’s enrollment at the Kansas City Art Institute brought the couple to KC.

Description

Cerbera Gallery is a Crossroads contemporary art gallery distinguished by its salon-style presentation and its emphasis on functional and sculptural ceramics alongside painting, photography, mixed media, high-quality prints, and jewelry. The gallery deliberately mixes well-known and emerging artists at price points that attract both serious collectors and occasional buyers — an intentionally democratic approach that sets it apart from the white-cube model that dominates the neighborhood.

The gallery was launched in 2016 in connection with the NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) conference in Kansas City, and has maintained deep ties to the national ceramics community since. It regularly participates in NCECA programming and has hosted exhibitions featuring both Kansas City Art Institute-connected artists and national and international ceramicists. The space at 2011 Baltimore Ave provides a crowded, casual environment — founder Philipp Eirich describes it as “a fun environment” — that feels more like a well-curated collector’s studio than a commercial gallery.

Ownership and history

Philipp Eirich is a member of the Eirich Machines family, based in southwestern Germany. He began collecting art with his ceramicist wife, German-born Melanie Sherman, amassing hundreds of works over the years. The couple’s connection to Kansas City came through Sherman’s acceptance into the ceramics MFA program at the Kansas City Art Institute; she moved to KC in 2013, and Eirich followed in spring 2016.

The gallery’s founding was opportunistic and community-driven: in January 2016, a visit from artist Jayson Lawfer led Eirich to notice a vacant space at 2011 Baltimore Ave. He approached Stephanie Leedy at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center about renting it for a show during the 50th anniversary NCECA conference in March 2016. The resulting exhibition — a salon-style array of KC ceramics community artists, national names, and international artists — sold out completely. Eirich chose to keep the space open and Cerbera Gallery was born.

Eirich operates web development business 3-D Rex Studios alongside the gallery. His and Sherman’s deep connections to the national ceramics community through KCAI and NCECA give the gallery an unusually strong curatorial network for a 10-year-old operation.

Links

• Official site: https://cerberagallery.com/

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.