The garage is a recurring setting in the foundational narratives for corporations that now shape our society: Apple, Disney, and Google are just a few names on a lengthy list of garage start-ups. Not to mention the thousands of bands who got their start pissing off the neighbors, too. Perhaps it is something about how the garage exists as a sort of liminal space — attached to the house but not quite used as living space, meant to store cars or other miscellaneous items that are inconvenient to keep inside the house, the room can serve multiple purposes or morph into a cluttered hindrance; a garage is what you make it. Garages are like grown-up blanket forts, made of concrete or wood instead of curtains, in which new worlds and ideas are created, used, or visited. Anything can happen, combust, or otherwise exist.
IF YOU GO
The Heights Art Studio + Gallery Tour.
Sat. Oct. 19, 12-6 p.m. $10-$20 (free for children 10 and under).
4636 N. Florida Ave., Tampa.
tempus-projects.com.
Perhaps a more uncommon function of the garage is to show art. Garage galleries, one example of what alternative art venues beyond commercial gallery spaces can be, function as a kind of intermediary space for the local art world. They allow artists, whether emerging or established, to openly experiment in their practice and test out new ideas without the typical pressures of selling or curatorial constraints. Such spaces are often passion projects for those who run them and are supported by a network of artists, all with the inherent urgency to show and be seen.
Quaid, Parallelogram, and Coco Hunday are three garages in Tampa that have become art galleries directed by the University of South Florida Studio Art professors who run them. All three are featured in the Third Annual Heights Arts Studio + Gallery Tour sponsored by Tempus Projects, and there are nine additional sites open this Saturday, October 19 from noon-6 p.m.
Quaid — stylized “QUAID” and named for the surname of sibling actors Dennis and Randy — is an artist collective and gallery space founded in 2014 by members of the Tampa Drawers Sketch Gang, including Neil Bender, Anthony Record, Sam Newton, and Justin Nelson.
Bender, a Studio Art professor at USF, describes the space as “a hotbed of differentiating artistic attitudes and viewpoints, which started as a drawing-based project, but now incorporates anything that doesn’t suck.”
In addition to the Sketch Gang, Gary Schmitt, Jenn Ryann Miller, Warren Cockerham, Taylor Finke, and Emiliano Settecasi are Quaid members; each helps carry the load of putting together shows and events that aren’t just run-of-the-mill works, but ones that might challenge definitions of contemporary art from the gallery’s spot off a Florida Avenue alleyway in Seminole Heights. Quaid shows range from local artists to group exhibitions with artists from all over the country. The gallery hosts literary events, bands, sketch nights, and was one of the sites for Cockerham’s ambitious Flex Fest, Florida’s Experimental Film/Video Festival.
Parallelogram, named for the garage’s subtle shape, was founded in 2015 by Noelle Mason and Will Douglas. Mason grew up in the San Diego punk scene, witnessed “how the vibrancy of a DIY space can create community” and knows how fundamental these do-it-yourself venues are to an art community.
“My very first solo exhibition was at one of these types of non-traditional spaces,” Mason said, “so in many ways I see Parallelogram as a continuation of a culture I was part of and as a way of giving back or providing a similar opportunity for young artists in our own community.” Douglas has been partners with Mason at Parallelogram since before its official inception, and both daydream about taking part in the Saturday Salons held by Gertrude Stein in 1920s Paris.
Parallelogram echoes the spirit of Stein’s Salons: It is a space for artists to congregate, argue, drink, and share ideas. The gallery is always interested in alternative programming like performances, bands, and film screenings; there is an undeniable kind of anarchic energy that wouldn’t surface at other more established venues.
Coco Hunday was founded by Studio Art professor Jason Lazarus in 2016 and was the site of a summer show called “Rulers,” during which all proceeds were donated to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. The name is a phonetic spelling of “Cocoa Hyundai,” a major car dealership on the east coast of Florida. “Coco Hunday” connects the two conditions with which Florida artists work: a geographic point in our beloved state where the hilarious, bizarre, and horrendous are drenched in humidity and somehow float below sea level linked with a multinational corporation operating under late-stage capitalism. Previously, Lazarus, together with Nathan Anderson, ran Jesus Chrysler — an alternative art space out of his home in Chicago; the name was a mingling of religion and capitalism.
Coco Hunday’s programming is anchored in solo exhibitions which allow for a more expansive focus on an individual artist and provides them with an opportunity to dig into their practice or explore methods. It’s a space for artists, one at a time, to flex, take chances, and engage in art without market pressures; Coco Hunday also interviews each artist in-depth to further expound upon the nuances of their practice.
The professor-directors of these garage galleries are colleagues who facilitate the development of an art community both on the USF campus and in Tampa neighborhoods. Each of these spaces offers a plethora of options and opportunities for both the artists and the art community, and each of these directors wishes there were a dozen more in the area. If you’ve got the space and gumption, you, too, could have your own art venue. And if you have never stopped in these alternative art spaces, a fantastic opportunity is coming up this weekend. Carpool with a friend and see what might get your motor running in these garage spaces.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in Oct 17-24, 2019.