Indrek Kongats: Artist & Entrepreneur
Indrek Kongats: Artist & Entrepreneur
Ellicottville Resident Blends Outdoor Adventure with Art
Photos / Indrek Kongats
You can meet a lot of interesting people in your life. Some of them will make an impact, which is exactly what happened when I spoke with Ellicottville resident, Indrek Kongats about what he does and how he came to do it all. Indrek is a very fascinating character with an extremely positive personality. He owns multiple businesses and has a niche for creating beautiful art. Let me share what I learned about this man of many backgrounds.
The guy can juggle a lot! Artist, traveler, outdoorsman, business owner… he runs an art gallery and a retail shop located in Houghton, NY.
“My business name is Breakaway Classic Adventures, which I started after graduating from college with a degree in Fine Art from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario,” said Indrek. “My BFA was in Art Studio and Art History. Breakaway Classic Adventures initially had nothing to do with my art degree; rather it was just my love of the outdoors and adventure travel. I have been to all regions of the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, coast to coast USA, Mexico, Cuba and Australia. Breakaway specializes in Adventure Travel Destinations to all of these fantastic countries and more for sportsmen and sportswomen of all ages. Along the way I met an artist by the name of Morten Fadum from Colorado. He and his wife, Patty, booked one of my trips to Baffin Island back in 1986 and we’ve been best friends ever since! It was Mort who inspired me to open up a gallery to display not only his beautiful artwork, but introduced me to who's who in the Sporting Art World - Rod Crossman, C.D. Clarke, Gordon Allen and Thomas Aquinas Daly - all of whom have works in my gallery.”
Indrek’s gallery, named River Dog Gallery, is located on the Genesee River in Houghton. His inspiration for the gallery’s name came from none other than his Yellow Labrador Retriever, Frenchie. River Dog Gallery - or RDG for short - features dozens of works by all the above mentioned artists as well as unique wood turnings by Felix Eljas, an Estonian immigrant that fled the brutality of Stalin’s invasion of Estonia during WW2.
“Felix Eljas just happens to be my grandfather, but unfortunately he passed away at the peak of his artist career in ’72,” said Indrek. “My passion for the outdoors was instilled in me by him at a very early age. My grandfather was a great outdoorsman, built his own boats, taught me to fish and hunt and ran a wonderful resort in Rousseau, Ontario for like-minded souls - the place I called home until I went off to college. So as my two worlds collided, my love of art and adventure spawned RDG.”
You may think that someone living in Ellicottville would find it difficult to work out of a studio in Houghton, but Indrek doesn’t find this to be the case at all.
“I exhibit only my own photography in the RDG of my world adventures,” he said. “Oils, watercolors, etchings, limited edition prints and sculptures in the gallery are by the aforementioned artists. Houghton was the perfect location for my business. It’s a four-season college town, home to Houghton College. It’s on the fabulous Genesee River. It’s a fly fishing paradise and gateway to Letchworth State Park! My gallery is just a short 35-mile commute from my home in Ellicottville along scenic and beautiful country roads where one will regularly see elk, bison, deer and eagles, and of course countless Amish buggies. So the drive is actually pretty relaxing for me.”
Like I said, Indrek has an extremely positive personality. So what inspires his art the most? What is his favorite type of work to create? “My adventures inspire my own work but my adventures are also reflected in all works in the RDG. Sporting Art is typically art portraying people, fly fishing, hunting, canoeing or just landscapes and still life associated with being outdoors and enjoying all that nature has to offer us. I combine both of my passions into one cohesive adventure.”
Obviously, Indrek is a very busy man who continues to grow, which is evident from hearing about his plans for the future. “Like all good galleries, we are planning to open a cafe within and we will soon offer custom mounting and framing. We even offer interior design services to help display all art sold. After all, fine art is still a fine investment!”
“Unfortunately my best friend, Morton Fadum, my inspiration and fly fishing partner passed away unexpectedly at the end of July this year. His final wish was for a percentage of the proceeds from the sale of his art to go to support the Atlantic Salmon Federation to help in their efforts to preserve the wild salmon populations and all the salmon rivers of North America.”
Even in his sorrow, Indrek holds to the silver lining and that’s the type of personality the world could use more of. If you found Indrek’s story as interesting as I did and want to learn more, or just want to view his art, his gallery or outdoor adventure service, just visit his one-stop webpage, breakawayclassicadventures.com.
