"INLIGHT STUDIOS," MHER HARUTUNIAN’S 2 NEWLY NAMED MALL ART GALLERIES TO OPEN IN USA
/PanARMENIAN.Net/
02.06.2009
/PanARMENIAN.Ne t/ Mher Harutunian, an Armenian born artist who moved to
Dayton from New York City in 2000, had established a steady following
at his "Portraits by Michael" art kiosk at Cincinnati’s Eastgate
Mall over a three-year period before mall management approached him
in early 2009 to see if he wanted to expand into a full store.
Pleasantly surprised, he signed a one-year lease agreement on the
3,000 square foot former B Moss women’s clothing store.
Prompted by Eastgate’s encouraging offer, Harutunian next contacted
Dayton’s Mall at Fairfield Commons and received an equally positive
offer. He now has a 16-month lease agreement with Fairfield to occupy
a 2,000 square foot former photography store, selling his works out
of a kiosk on the first floor before the gallery opens.
"Inlight Studios," Harutunian’s newly named mall art galleries, will
feature many of the artist’s works he sells at his kiosks. Ranging from
roughly 250 black and white hand drawn celebrity portraits done in
charcoal to custom portraits of personal photos hand drawn in pastel
or charcoal, Harutunian – who now goes by Michael instead of Mher –
is grateful for the opportunity both malls have given him.
Of the two new galleries, Harutunian thinks the Eastgate store will
offer him more customers, he is even thinking about offering art
classes at his Fairfield store.
Harutunian grew up in Armenia surrounded by art. His father, uncle
and cousins were all artists, with his father’s artwork decorating
the walls in his family’s apartment. He graduated from Yerevan Art
Academy in 1987, where his father was a professor.
>From there, Harutunian did artistic design work in the former USSR
until moving to Boston in 1992, then later to Manhattan in 1996.
With his two new galleries set to open, Harutunian has come a long
way in his 10 years spent in the Dayton area. Before opening his
kiosk at Eastgate, the artist used to sketch people at night in the
Oregon District.