Issue link: http://maconmagazine.uberflip.com/i/1534028
102 maconmagazine.com | April/May 2025 what's happening if this thing with the [Ocmulgee] Mounds ever gets approved, Macon's going to be just overrun with people coming in to see the national park. They're going to want to see the community and spend their money here and see what else there is to offer. There are challenges to doing this because I'm 79. The big challenge now is, how much longer am I going to want to do this? We have already made decisions about the future of the gallery so that I can retire. The gallery is going to be transitioning into an art co-op. There's going to be four artists. The walls will be all divided. Kirk will still have about 25% of the space. I will probably work one day a week, but I'm not going to be running it. I'm done being responsible. I'm 79, I don't want to be responsible for anything. We'll contribute to the expenses of running the gallery. I think it's completely I revel in nature. What do you see as the long-term goals for the gallery? I think the long-term goals for it are just to stay here. We talked about closing it completely. And then people are like, "No, no, no." With the amount of music tourism that we get here, and of course, all of Kirk's music photography is still a draw. The Big House is a draw. The Allman Brothers played their last concert in 2014. Think about how many years ago that was, and people are still coming to Macon and still going to the Big House. Who knows how long that will last? The aging fan base, right? But I have to say that when Kirk was still working for the brothers and I went to a lot of shows, there were everything from teenagers to 80-year-olds at these concerts. I remember my reaction the first doable as long as other artists sell some work. Starting April 1, I will no longer be running the gallery, but we'll still have Kirk and it's not going to change the name. It's going to be Gallery West. I won't get paid for that, but I don't get paid for it now. I don't take a salary. I've never paid myself. We use that money like income, but I never wrote myself a check. What's one place in Macon that feeds your soul? Grant's Lounge. The Macon Music Revue is just… I love them so much. I love Charles, I love Dustin McCook, I love Grant's, I love everything about it. That feeds my soul for sure. The other thing that I would say that feeds my soul is my property. We have five acres. I live in a forest, and I love animals, and I feed a herd of deer every day and that feeds my soul. I go out and I feed the deer and