When METHOD & CONCEPT founder Chad Jensen graduated from Detroit’s College for Creative Studies, he moved to Florida and couldn’t find a job. Here was this young guy with a portfolio filled with experimental objects, like laminate chairs that nod to the Memphis Group, sculptures made from bike seats and ceramic side tables with deconstructed legs. He had a dream to merge the worlds of fine art, craftsmanship and design with ideas that were all a little too out there for the time. “They said, ‘I don’t think we can keep you engaged enough,’” Chad recalls. One potential employer pointed him to the respected woodworking group Thomas Riley Artisans’ Guild in Naples. Chad called the Guild’s main line and owner Tom Riley answered within a few rings. Tom immediately offered Chad a job as a maker, with a direct line to pitch all his wild ideas. And he had plenty of those.
The 45-year-old artist, curator, furniture maker and designer has made his mark in the art and design community. He’s one of the founding directors for the bustling Naples Design District; he lobbied for public art and championed local artists through his work on the board for the United Arts Council of Collier County, where he served as president from 2016 to 2018; he mentors arts students at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU), where he teaches young creatives to turn their talents into gainful careers; and he represents upcoming and midcareer artists in his contemporary art gallery-meets-design atelier, METHOD & CONCEPT, which he opened with Tom’s help in 2003 as the Thomas Riley Studio. Two years ago, the gallery expanded from a small space nearby to its current 3,000-square-foot home in The Collective.
On the cusp of METHOD & CONCEPT’s 10th anniversary in 2023, Chad reflects on a quote from writer Ralph Waldo Emerson that inspired his career; “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” He’s committed to cementing progressive art and design in Southwest Florida, where traditional styles have dominated. His approach has been varied over the years—stocking genre-defying artists; collaborating with Naples Botanical Garden and Artis—Naples; hosting immersive events (like the TEDx-style talks he used to do with industry professionals); cultivating promising local talent, like Naples sculptor Brett F. Harvey. All of it is served up with approachable hospitality, aimed to introduce new artists and mediums and bring new aficionados into the fold. No cliquish attitudes here.
And soon, Chad unveils the ACL|ROW Sculpture Park, named after a historic train marker he found in an empty stretch of grassy dirt between METHOD & CONCEPT and Quattro at Naples Square. He researched the letters engraved on a small concrete stump and learned it had served as a marker for Atlantic Coast Line Right-of-Way in the once-bustling railroad area: “I said to myself, ‘This is an opportunity, with this little piece of dirt over here, to be a small introduction to [the history of] Naples and Southwest Florida.’” He worked with Naples Botanical Garden to fill the space with subtropical plants, a crouching sculpture by Brett F. Harvey and an electrical box wrapped with Naples painter Carmelo Blandino’s vibrant florals. Chad’s currently working to convince city officials to extend the garden to create a walkable art path from Naples Design District to the new Gulfshore Playhouse cultural campus. “That’s the ‘method and concept’ part; we don’t want to be seen as just an art gallery; we want to be kind of like an octopus, with as many tentacles as we can get out there. It’s about engaging people with interesting, compelling content,” Chad says. —Jaynie Bartley