52nd City

Lucky Friday the 13th

There is nothing unlucky about this Friday the 13th as St. Louisans get a chance to take part in a Cherokee Street art walk. I always joke about there being a Mad Art Mafia, but Galen Gondolfo, of the always ambitious Fort Gondo, extends his cultural reign into all kinds of new territories, opening a café and another gallery space. (But no turf wars expected.) All of these venues are within walking distance of each other so scoot your way over to Cherokee and support this crew. We are lucky to have so many people willing to put their energy into this kind of exciting stuff.

FORT GONDO (3151 Cherokee): On the heels of his successful show at Mad Art, Peter Pranschke shows “My Disaster Box”. This exhibit will display close to one thousand drawings Pranscke has thrown into a box next to his desk over the last 3-4 years. Many of these images are early awkward versions of drawings later exhibited in other shows. These drawings will wallpaper the gallery from floor to ceiling.

BEVERLY GALLERY (3155 Cherokee): Celebrate the grand opening of this women’s gallery owned by Galen Gondolfi and named after his mother. Artwork by Sara Arnold, Amanda Baker, Julie Hayes, Jessi Kelley and Nicole Northway.

SNOWFLAKE (3156 Cherokee): While not officially a gallery, David Early owns and operates this space and has his sights set on turning it into a second hand shop of sorts. For Friday’s festivities, he’ll be showing new works by Jesse Thomas and Andrea Green.

LIVE THEATER (3157 Cherokee): Tin Theater Group. Not sure of time.

TYPO CAFÉ (3159 Cherokee): Gondolfi presents Typo Café, a mostly laptop free coffee shop with typewriters on almost every table. Patrons can purchase typewriter ribbon as well as coffee. Occasional art shows will be held at the café. The grand opening will feature new drawings by Mike Cook, Chris Deckard, Peter Monahan, Dana Smith and Jason Vargas. I can't wait to check out this one.

ART PARTS (3211 Cherokee): Performance Art/Installation by Galen Gondolfi and Mike Schuh.

ART PARTS (3215 Cherokee): Performance Art/Installation by Amy Broadway.

RADIO CHEROKEE (3227 Cherokee): Live Music by the Monads, Jay Riley & Jason Vargas. Doors open @ 9pm.

A Fort Gondo website should be up by Friday with more information. www.fortgondo.com.