Colombia RPCV Paloma Grasso runs Galeria Quetzal in Cleveland
On the Job with...Paloma Grasso
Monday, July 19, 2004
AGE: 63. "And proud of it."
LIVES IN: Rock Creek. "In the woods near Geneva."
RESPONSIBILITIES: She's responsible for everything at the gallery in Little Italy, from buying and selling art to promoting and running the business. "You name it, I do it."
EXPERIENCE: She was a Peace Corps volunteer in the mid-1960s. In the '70s she ran an antiques shop in Colombia, South America, with her former-archaeologist husband for about 15 years. They sold antiques including 2,000-year-old artifacts and Spanish colonial art. She was a Spanish teacher in Cleveland Heights elementary and middle schools for 13 years beginning in 1981. Then she started a framing business before she opened her art gallery nearly three years ago.
EDUCATION: Shaker Heights High School, 1959; bachelor's degree in sociology and anthropology, Lake Forest College, Lake Forest, Ill., 1963; master's in Spanish education, Cleveland State University, 1986; master's in Spanish literature and civilization, Cleveland State, 1995. "I like to teach and I like to learn. Now I'm learning more about Latin American folk art."
WORST JOB EXPERIENCE: "Dealing with politics involved in teaching in public schools."
BEST JOB EXPERIENCE: Running the gallery. "I get a chance to speak Spanish and meet fascinating people. I travel to supply the gallery, and I'm surrounded by art that I love."
BEST ADVICE "If you have a dream, go for it. Don't let anything stop you: color, age, sex, money, parents, siblings, spouse or children. Follow your dream. Make it happen."
BEST STRESS BUSTER: Listening to classical music, watching foreign films and reading.
MENTOR: She does not have one.
CAREER GOALS: She wants to open another Galeria Quetzal in the Los Angeles area, where one of her children lives. "I hope Cleveland gets a Hispanic folk art museum one day. Then I could run the gift shop."
HOBBIES: She plays classical piano and studies acoustic guitar. "I love to dance: ballet, modern, contra and folk dance. And I love to travel."
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission.
