Garage Art
View this ‘fast and loose’ style of art in a gallery for the first time
Alison Hunter was still setting up for the Columbia Garage Art community’s first gallery show 15 minutes after it was scheduled to start on Saturday.
“That’s kind of how garage art works,” she said. “We’re kind of fast and loose.”
Garage Art was started in 2003 by founding father Seth Bro, several co-conspirators and some art. The grass roots movement has continued because “it runs itself,” said Hunter, this year’s organizer and a Garage Art member.
The show runs until July 21 at the MSA/GPC Craft Studio in Brady Commons on the MU campus.
“This isn’t usually how we operate, the gallery thing is new,” Hunter said. “It’s usually more a pub crawl with art.”
Last summer’s Garage Art event found patrons meandering between three houses in Columbia that served as forums for the artwork, transforming backyards, living rooms and, yes, garages into showrooms.
“It was an interesting experience,” said local artist Lawrence L’Hote, who attended the event.
Garage Art experiences have included artist Felicia Leach screen printing T-shirts right off the backs of audience members and patrons taking turns applying paint to a canvas that artist Elizabeth Parris later refined. The result of the group art project is now on display at the gallery.
The move to the gallery was “something we did because we could,” Hunter said.
For those seeking a more authentic Garage Art experience, plans are in the works for an event in late summer to early fall, when Hunter hopes for some cooler and more enjoyable weather.
For more information, including upcoming events and exhibitions, go to
garage-art.org.