James Cohan Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in New York City that has a reputation for producing some of the most compelling exhibitions in the world.  Jim has differentiated himself as a grounded, smart, and thoughtful mentor to so many historically important artists including: Trenton Doyle Hancock, Fred Tomaselli, Beatriz Milhazes, Spencer Finch and more. Quite often when people write about art dealers, the story is almost always told via the context of the artists that the dealer represents. I want to tell you more about Jim Cohan, the inspiration he has become to me, and his part in making a difference for One River School.

In 2010, I was at a career crossroads, but I had this passion to learn about contemporary art, and I had a belief that I could create a new platform to teach art through the lens of today’s art world. I enrolled in a program at NYU and one of our classes visited James Cohan Gallery to hear him speak about the contemporary art space. He did so much more than just talk about it. He shared a real and unguarded perspective that was so refreshing to me that I decided to reach out to him and thank him.

A couple of years later, I ran into Jim at the Frieze Art Fair and I bought a Trenton Doyle Hancock painting from him. Afterwards, I gave him an update on One River and he said he wanted to get involved and become a partner! Most of the time people don’t really mean what they say, but Jim not only means what he says, he is someone whose word is gold– this may be the highest complement I can pay someone.

Today, Jim and his wife Jane are partners, and they’re leading a group who are one month away from opening their first One River Franchise location in Evanston, IL.  This is part of a multi-school development with plans to open throughout greater Chicago. They are helping me spread the mission of One River in the Midwest and that is a blessing.

Jim’s insight, confidence, and optimism for what we are doing has been a game changer for me. The challenge of starting a business is a lonely one and comes with lots of inherent fear. To know that Jim had faith in me, and my vision early on, was and still remains an important turning point for One River.