ART STUDIOS

The Gypsy Gallery & Secrets of Studio 9

by Fife Tschudy

The Gypsy Gallery

Two nonprofit art galleries exist in Ogden. One stands as the city’s Eiffel Tower, old and solid as stone the Eccles Community Art Center, provides that poise that every city needs to progress without losing its original color. Many a city has a tower. But Ogden has another gallery, one of even older tradition. Ever connected to its community, ever living by sweat, heart and luck, this gallery may be found wandering the city it loves. Its name is the Art Stop.
“The Cinderella syndrome,” says the gallery’s director Robin Macnofsky decidedly. “It means at any time we can turn back into a pumpkin. And we will have succeeded ironically when that happens, because the purpose is to show how art impacts economics.”
Presently Art Stop is located at the University of Phoenix building on the corner of Washington and 25th. The idea behind it is a landmark of ingenuity. Combining the classic lifestyle of the professional artist with present-day city structure and function, the purpose of Art Stop is two-fold: to display the arts, and to help lease spaces downtown! The space it occupies is granted to Art Stop for free until such time as it is leased. By dressing up the vacancy and inviting passers-by through its open doors, the space is made more attractive to potential renters. Meanwhile, the city enjoys this gypsy gallery’s invitation to everyone working, schooling, or living in Weber County to discover shapes, colors, and music.
Within the Art Stop, across the hall from the gallery, is a studio where dwell six resident artists. Their working space is paid for in community service hours, perhaps assisting in city events or helping out an emerging fellow artist. Currently on display in the gallery are photos of forest fires taken by one Jenell Witlock.
“She’s never had a show before. She had a scrapbook,” says Macnofsky. “Glen Larson [resident artist] has personally matted and framed about 16 of her pictures here. He’s just helped an emerging artist.”
The artists are also set to donate their time to the local schools, nearly all of them having taught before. The program is waiting upon funds from the city for supplies to teach workshops to classes.
“They’d be working with groups of about 10 [kids] so they can give more individual attention,” says Macnofsky. A lot of effort goes into getting to the inner city school kids. “The schools in this particular area, the students don’t get a lot of exposure to arts experiences. I compare it to watering a really parched strip of grass. I mean, they’re really thirsty. And they don’t even know it.”
Like Eccles Community Art Center, Art Stop charges no fee to local artists to display their work.
“It’s really rare for artists to be able to show their work in a body of work. It’s usually onesies and twosies in a contest,” Macnofsky says. The two back rooms of Art Stop are dedicated to promoting other local art studios featuring both two- and three-dimensional work.
But the arts are not restricted to pictures. Art Stop is the place for artist group meetings, such as the Palette Club, whose monthly meeting is open to the public and features a visiting artist doing a live demonstration. The suite that served as the city council’s chambers before its move to the Municipal building is available for free performances. It features a bench with 12 microphones perfect for reading, theater and poetry. Weber State University has already had the pleasure of trying it out, as have local singers and musicians. A group needs to get approval; nonprofit or for-profit groups may use it, but the event must itself be nonprofit.
“This is a front porch for the arts for Ogden,” says Macnofsky. “That’s the front porch in action.”
Art Stop is working on a “spontaneous” arts performance night, a sort of walk in and perform thing. Macnofsky hopes to see every repressed, would-be artist and star displayed in the gallery and taking center stage.
“I think we’ve commercialized our creativity. In fact, I take out the think; as a society we have commercialized our creativity. We’ve said he’s a dancer, she’s a singer, he’s a painter, and I’m not.” Macnofsky shakes her head at what she finds to be self-limiting labels. “Inside everyone is an artist,” she declares. “Forget the search for the inner child. I want you to find your inner artist.”
If and when Art Stop’s current space is rented, it will look to relocate to another leaseable space, probably near Historic 25th Street, depending on the interests of businesses in the area. Art Stop is on the Gallery Stroll, the walking art tour of downtown conducted the first Friday of every month. A free shuttle bus to the tour has recently been added due to the generosity of Key Bank.
And so the city lives and works. As the Paris of Utah, Ogden grows more colorful with each passing year as such innovations as Art Stop weave old world immortality into the energy of modern life. And Paris wouldn’t be Paris without gypsies.

THE SECRETS OF STUDI0 9

Off an undisclosed block of Washington Boulevard, between a couple of quaint storefronts, is a scarcely noticed parking lot. From the street it appears to end where it meets a parking garage wall. But creeping round a back corner, one comes upon a secreted stairway leading to an unusual door of red, slanting panels, and its skillfully carved sign outlined in green, “Studio 9.” This is the discretely established working site of six of Ogden’s most prominent artists.
“We like that,” they grinned as I was invited into the little-known workshop where paintings cover the walls, photos fill the mail slots, and easels grace every corner. Though incredibly stocked, the place has a spacious feel, which adds to the brilliance of its skylight.
Robert Call, Travis Crowther, Jerry Hancock, Homer Clark, and Michael Gardner are retired men of renowned talent and advanced degrees, most of them in art. A few have spent time painting in Europe.
“This is actually just a working studio,” said Gardner, president of Studio 9 Inc., an escorp with Utah. “Most of us have our own studios.”
“Most of the work is sold out of other galleries,” adds Songer from the desk where he’s busy with a sketch for the George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park Museum, a volunteer project. The group does a lot of community service. So how did the “big boys” come to dwell and dabble in downtown Ogden?
It all started when friend Paul Butler invited Songer to see his studio over the building next door. Songer and friends loved the idea, and originally planned to rent likewise a studio, but found they could buy for the same price as renting.
“He decided everyone in the world should be in it,” said Gardner with a thumb jerked at his busy companion. “So he invited everyone! The invites went out to 15 to 20 to join, and nine artists decided to join.”
Hence the name Studio 9. Three broke off to try other locations; the remaining six call Ogden home, and the real dream-street for making things happen.
“We’re a group, and we’re friends. We’re all great friends, lifelong friends!” said Gardner enthusiastically. “We all support each other here, we bounce ideas off each other, we critique each other.
“We all have really different personalities, we all come from different walks of life, yet we’re all friends. There’s about 30 years difference between the youngest and oldest.”
When the building was chosen, there was nothing on the upper floor but “three inches of pigeon poop and water.” Now it encloses eight rooms, including a carpentry section for stretching canvas and cutting frames, a kitchen, and a pool table.
“[Other artists] would kill for this, what we have,” nodded Call.
“We took one of the depressed buildings in Ogden, and gutted it,” agreed Gardner.
Songer explained, “It was by far the worst building on Washington, and I know no one’ll believe this, but we really wanted to do something for downtown Ogden.”
One of the advantages of the group is that it can purchase supplies in bulk, and shares a lot of equipment. The Studio rents out the building’s other spaces below and behind to a photography studio, an antique gallery, and a private artist.
Hancock’s work is on display at the Gallery At The Station, Union Station. Beginning the first of May, Call’s work can be seen at the Carriage House Gallery at the Eccles Community Art Center. Songer has an exhibit at Eccles coming up in December.
Oil, pastel, watercolor, sculpture, you name it, you’ll find it in the skilled hands of the Studio 9 six. Call said it best:
“You’re really lookin’ at the big boys.”

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