Leave it to [5]art’s creative director to choose a funky locale for her latest project.

Since [5]art moved out of its warehouse late last year, Tracy Midulla Reller has joined up with two other [5]art affiliates, Lisa Harasuik and Ashley Nevin, and a third artist, Michael Marcotte, to found a literal hole-in-the-wall gallery behind Ink Tank Studios in South Seminole Heights. Dubbed Tempus Projects, the gallery occupies the converted garage at the back of the lot, complete with two roller doors and distinctly Florida-shotgun architecture.

“It was just a big, ugly, nasty garage,” Tracy coos, gazing across Tempus’ minimalist landscape. Barely big enough to house three sedans, the gallery has an irresistible underdog appeal, with its cracked concrete floors and whitewashed drywall. It still smells faintly of motor oil.

This article appears in Feb 3-9, 2010.