It was back in January that Susan Aurinko realized that her innovative West Loop art gallery, Flatfile, wouldn’t be able to stay in business-much like everything else, the dwindling economy decided that its next victim would be the art communities of major cities throughout the United States, and Chicago was no exception.

Hesitant to officially call it quits, Aurinko was hopeful that Flatfile had the potential to stay open through August, so she continued to book artists and planned various installations in the months to come.

But by mid-February, she realized the gallery’s extreme debt left her at a dead end. After a nine-year run, Flatfile was to close at the end of March.

“It was a very hard decision to make,” Aurinko said. “I had originally planned to try and stay open through the summer, but money just kept going out and nothing was coming in. Nobody is buying art right now. We knew that we really couldn’t afford to keep pouring money down the drain until the month of August.”

After renting a small building in 2000,  Aurinko opened a space that, she said, was originally conceptualized as a grounds for emerging photographers-the setup of the gallery was run in a self-serve format, meaning that installed drawers were filled to the brim with photographs as visitors had the freedom to rummage through hundreds of pictures at their own will.  Aurinko’s initial success made way for expansion, and in 2004, Flatfile moved to a five-gallery, two-story rehabbed building at 217 N. Carpenter St., she said.

From there, the gallery skyrocketed. After curating unique installations-such as Wafaa Bilal’s 2007 exhibit, “Domestic Tension,” where anyone on the Internet could virtually shoot him with a paintball gun-Flatfile Galleries reached the rankings of having international appeal and press coverage.

But Aurinko admits that over the past year, the way people view and purchase art has changed drastically, causing her gallery to suffer.

“We used to sell so much art during our opening nights,” Aurinko said. “But over the year, people became more careful about what they were buying. They weren’t buying as much for passion as they were for, ‘How much is this worth?’ There’s become much more concern for that.”

Aurinko said selling art is never easy, despite the state of the economy, and the options to combat going out of business are limited. Given the manner of the art business, there really isn’t much else to do-art is either sold and profits are raked in, or it’s left hanging on the walls, leaving little income to be inherited. It’s because of this that other art galleries are being forced to prematurely unhook paintings from the wall and close up shop permanently.

The poor economy hasn’t limited itself to just the West Loop art community, and Aurinko said the entire art world is suffering from its tight grip, causing galleries all over the country to go under.  A friend of Aurinko just saw her own gallery fold in Seattle, along with nine of the city’s major oldest galleries-all in one month.

“Flatfile closing is certainly a loss for the Chicago art scene.  They championed a lot of emerging artists,” said Jennifer Murray, director for the A+D Gallery at Columbia.  “The economy is taking a big toll on artists and galleries.  I think that people are being more conservative about buying art, taking longer to decide on a piece and opting for smaller pieces that cost less.”

Aurinko and her gallery are by no means closing and leaving art on the backburner, however. After being named curator for IIT this past fall, what was once a side project has now morphed into a full-fledged job, she said. Many of the artists featured at Flatfile whom she has developed close relations with will now have the opportunity to be showcased elsewhere-invites have come from throughout the city and Columbia to submit curatorial proposals.

“Flatfile was one of the livelier galleries in the city. It will be missed,” said Tim Long, director of Columbia’s Portfolio Center, which has held several Industry Nights with Flatfile. “For years Flatfile has generously supported a long roster of artists with a busy calendar of exhibits, sales and commissions. Its absence will be felt in the neighborhood and around the city. Hopefully it won’t be long before Susan and company can regroup and take another run at the art world.”

It’s that same sentiment that runs rampant with artists and art lovers alike, and Flatfile, along with many other galleries, won’t go unnoticed when its doors are forced to close at the end of this month.

“Since the press release went out, people have just been calling me crying,” Aurinko said. “I have incredibly beautiful and heartfelt letters from people, and I’ll treasure them my whole life. I don’t think you realize what you may mean to a city or a community until you’re leaving. All of a sudden you find out how people felt, and closing becomes a lot harder and sadder.”