Fells Point's TAG Galleries Brings Art Appreciation to Street Level

In a struggling economy, the last thing people think about as they’re tightening their belts and forgoing their morning Starbucks is acquiring art.

The time-honored tradition of collecting fine art, whether it’s painting, photography or sculpture, becomes at best a luxury, at worst an elitist frivolity. But there’s a reason that art has stood the test of time from the days of the Renaissance through today’s recession; people simply have an inherent need for art in their lives, whether it’s because they’re gaining from it an appreciation of creativity, inspiration, beauty or entertainment.

Maryland natives Ian and Cory Woods recognized this when they went about setting up TAG Galleries in Fells Point. At TAG, the brothers have made contemporary art available by creating high-quality reproductions at affordable prices ranging from $15 to $1,000.

“Our mission is to connect artists with larger markets of art lovers, art enthusiasts, and non-art enthusiasts by creating affordable but nice high-end reproductions,” says Ian Woods. “Making artwork affordable for customers as well as growing audiences for the arts themselves, ultimately allowing the artist to make a living, which is very hard to do as an artist ... trying to sell original paintings at $50,000.”

Although the two never considered themselves artists, they had always embodied the same creative, entrepreneurial spirit that characterizes Baltimore. Between Ian Woods’ experience running a window-washing business and Cory Woods’ degree in business, the pair decided they wanted to go into business together.

Following college, the two met regularly with a friend to discuss business ideas. “While we were generating all these different ideas, we were also looking for art, and we’ve always been interested in art,” Ian Woods says. “We were looking for art for our homes, and all the art that we liked was really contemporary, modern stuff from active artists. Nobody was reproducing it, and we could not afford the originals. So the idea just popped up one day, well there has to be a way to reproduce this artwork and make it affordable.”

And so TAG Galleries was born.

Scouting out both nationally and internationally recognized artists as well as local ones, the brothers have since curated a unique and eclectic collection of images and designs and made them affordable by offering them not as originals, but as reproductions on stretched canvases, fine art paper, posters, apparel, and even skateboards and furniture.

“Our gallery works in the complete opposite, where we do completely print showcases,” says Cory Woods. “So we get new artwork from the artists, just like if they were doing an original show, but we do them as a print. ... Traditionally that’s how most galleries are working, showcasing originals, and then you do have other print studios, print shops, poster shops, but for the most part, they’re usually still focusing on older artwork, where you can get prints of Van Goghs, Picassos. But we’re showcasing pieces that could have been painted yesterday.”

After researching multiple locations in and around Maryland, the two settled on Fells Point, a neighborhood equally as eclectic as their artists and products.

The gallery is housed in a renovated three-story rowhouse in the midst of the bustle of Fells Point Square on South Broadway Street. The bottom floor is open and displaying art to those walking past amongst the restaurants, bars, and shops, while the second and third floors are a lounge and studio, respectively.

“When we started up there were a couple different ways we could have gone,” says Cory Woods. “One was to go kind of commercial and get into a mall or something, and we knew right away that’s not really what we wanted. We wanted to be more ingrained in what the art scene was, which was artists and customers in the urban setting, and Fells Point was always an area when we were growing up that had a lot of cool skate shops, clothing shops ... So it was one area that we had just known as a combination of a historic community but also having the art and creative scene.”

Three and a half years later, Baltimore has proven to be the ideal home for TAG.

“Baltimore has a reputation for being not only creative, but also encouraging different types of creativity, whereas other cities like D.C. and New York are a little bit more rigid and they sort of have certain standards, not only in their way of life but also certain aesthetic standards in the art world of certain ways to conform to,” says Ian Woods. “Baltimore is not like that at all. They encourage people trying different things, trying new things, and ultimately that’s the type of artwork we want to show – the new stuff, the innovative artwork, so it was a perfect fit, and within Baltimore, Fells Point, we love the 18th century charm, we love the type of people that frequent this location.”

And it’s the relationships that have built the foundation upon which TAG has been able to flourish.

With the prime location on one of Baltimore’s most popular waterfront neighborhoods, TAG is a venue that not only attracts locals, but also tourists. Every day, Cory Woods says he and his brother get to meet and talk to both artists and customers, making word of mouth an effective way for TAG to grow.

While building relationships on the day-to-day and at monthly live music and demonstration events, like the one that will be held October 1 in conjunction with the annual Fells Point Fun Festival, the brothers say TAG has been able to thrive in such an environment.

In the short term, the pair says they are entering the second phase of their business plan, which involves putting more resources into featuring more local, emerging artists. In the long term, they’d like to open galleries in other cities and establish creative arts centers and offer classes for aspiring artists.

“There is a lot of focus on national expansion, but at the same time we’re integrating ourselves more heavily into Baltimore and always want to be looked at as a Baltimore company because we think that’s really what has formed our style,” Cory Woods says.

Just as Baltimore has allowed TAG Galleries to cultivate itself in a collaborative, innovative environment, the Woods brothers intend to use TAG as a place to do that for the community’s artists.

“Ultimately,” says Ian Woods, “what we’d like to be is a place where any artist can come and we give them the resources to market themselves and assist them in developing an audience.”


Staci Wolfson is a Baltimore-born, NYU-educated writer and editor based in Charm City. In addition to BmoreMedia, you can read her writing on Patch.com and her Just for Kicks & Giggles soccer blog.


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Photos by Arianne Teeple