The art along his office walls is not merely décor, nor is it for conversation. The pieces Steevun Lemon has chosen—of the many he could, since art is his business—carry meaning.
Take the intricately detailed “sketch” of Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot at the last supper opposite his desk. Christ looks intently at Judas, who is too busy eating to notice. Lemon describes Christ’s demeanor as without malice, despite knowing what is going to happen.
“In business, sometimes you feel you have been taken advantage of,” he says, comparing the piece to work. “No matter if you feel you have been treated unfairly, you can’t let anger creep in or frustration get the best of you. If you do, in the end, it only hurts you.”
Keeping a long-term perspective helped Lemon, director of Repartee Galleries, manage the stressful ups and downs of the art industry. It also helped him discover it was where he needed to be.
He is passionate about art, but it took some years before he realized he should go into it. He earned an MBA from the Marriott School in 1998 and went to work building software as a project manager. He then became vice president of sales at a data systems corporation. Sales were good, but the travel kept him away from his young family.
On a trip to Florence, Italy, an epiphanous encounter with Michelangelo’s sculpture of David changed his career and life.
“It was almost as if it had fallen out of heaven,” Lemon says. “I just sat and watched it, and for maybe the first time in years, I was able to stop and ask myself the questions I didn’t want to.”
Lemon realized he wasn’t happy, so he left his job. He took a large cut in salary to join Repartee, where they devised a makeshift office in the hallway for him, but he received a bonus in the form of time at home.
Lemon describes the art business with words like “volatile” and “unpredictable.” It’s changing; so Repartee, which now has four retail locations in Utah, is experimenting with new ways to connect to the market, using more video and technology in the galleries. They also show the process their artists go through, start to finish, on the internet.
“Art isn’t like another product,” he says. “The creation reveals the creator—the brush doesn’t lie. I tell artists to paint what they feel, and we’ll do our best to market it.”
Lemon says he is increasingly grateful to be where he is despite the industry’s challenges. He believes in art; he says it makes you stop and ponder. Michelangelo’s David made him stop and make a decision that once seemed like a sacrifice, but doesn’t anymore.
“I think what we do here makes a difference, and that’s what I was looking for,” he says.
