BiRDHOUSE Gallery

Love the shows this gallery hosts — lot of talented local work and great people! I love that it is an actual east side duplex converted into a gallery. Hope to see everyone at the next showing!!!

This unassuming east side gallery is one of my favorite’s in the country. I travel fairly regularly with my job, so I get to check out galleries in my free time, and this one stacks up with the best. Summer finds them hosting openings every other sunday. I’ve only missed one so far. Informal, unstuffy, and generally awesome. True, some of the artists stand out more than others; I’ve seen a few that didn’t move me that much… but the fact that their front porch becomes a congregating spot after the first hour or so, that everyone seems to be there to enjoy the art, the conversation, and not just to be seen –really hits the spot. I’m heading there now.

Galleries are often pretentious and sterile. You walk around with your arms crossed in front of you, sipping your drink and keeping your distance from the art. It’s so serious. AND it’s just NOT how art was meant to be viewed/​enjoyed. That is one of the things that is so fantastic about BiRDHOUSE. Located in half of a charming old duplex, the art looks at home there and *good news* so do you. Say hello to serious art and goodbye to standing awkwardly in the bright lights. The space lends itself to traffic and good times. It’s laid back, yet these guys mean business. Which is an odd thing to say about indy artists. They’ve got shows lined up through January of 2010.
I’ve participated in shows both as a voyeur and an artist in the past and always walked away smiling. Once upon a time me and some friends even had a YART sale in the yard. It’s a lovely and inspiring little corner of the world and every time I get invited to one of their openings I think «I want to go to there!»
For details on the YART sale please visit

I guess today is the day for reviewing houses converted into something greater than houses. BiRDHOUSE is definitely that. I was here not too very long ago, emerging from my antisocial tendencies of late to attend a group show that included artwork by three friends and curation by another.
There’s a very intriguing trailer on the front lawn. It was unclear to me whether or not I was allowed to go inside, so I just stood in the grass and occasionally jumped to try to get a better look through the red-​tinted windows. After that, there’s a very big welcoming front porch. Half of the house is a gallery, and the other half is… a house? An office? I don’t know.
Inside the gallery, there is (what else?) art. I would love to review the show I saw, and go on at length about Jen’s peerless curator skills, Katie’s whimsical fairytales on paper, Ariele’s blending of futuristic and retro, and Elliot’s painfully smart installation piece, but that show won’t be there forever.
BiRDHOUSE is a great idea for a gallery, though. The architecture and infrastructure of an old residential lends itself perfectly to an intimate, curious gallery experience. It encourages patrons to mingle and examine in ways they don’t have to at more conventional galleries. Props to that.