Those who are dreaming of doing something else besides law can look to Cynthia Plevin for a little boost of inspiration.
Plevin, who launched and headed Sedgwick’s labor and employment practice for many years, is opening a gallery in downtown San Francisco that focuses on contemporary African art — the only one on the West Coast to do so, she says.
Bekris Gallery and its inaugural exhibition “Common Ground” opens tonight at 5:30 at 49 Geary Street, Suite 235. The exhibit runs through Nov. 21.
Lawyers at Sedgwick and Nixon Peabody donated legal services to help the gallery incorporate and negotiate its lease.
Plevin said she loved practicing law, but always had other interests she wanted to explore. The gallery, which will donate all after-cost proceeds to charity organizations focusing on human rights and food security, was a way for her to combine her interest in art, Africa and giving back.
Leaving law before it drives you crazy, after the jump.
“I think you should leave something when you love it, when you are happy, that’s a better time to leave than when you are disenchanted,” Plevin said. “If you want to do something else, you need to start thinking about doing it if you are in your fifties.”
Plevin retired as a partner from Sedgwick last year, becoming of counsel. She continues to serve existing clients as needed, but will transition to fulltime work for the gallery within a year.
“I left law loving it. And there are days when I know I will wish I were doing it fulltime,” she said.
The 59-year-old Plevin said she was surprised to find that no galleries on the West Coast specialize in contemporary African art, and only a few on the East Coast do. She met the artists through European and African galleries.
“It will give American audiences an opportunity to see this extraordinary work, which right now you can’t see unless you go to Africa itself, or to Europe,” Plevin said.
— Amanda Royal
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