Go East Young Man
By gina.iacobelliMay 6th, 2009
For those of you familiar with the Detroit suburb of Royal Oak, you may not think of it as a bastion of public art. However, there may be a few murals in Royal Oak that you do not know about. The first is a set of three panels that lie in the old Dondero High School, celebrating the history of Royal Oak and the promise a solid career path through a devotion to studies. As antiquated as these works may seem in our eyes, they have a little-known cultural significance. Restored in 2004, these murals are a product of the FAP (Federal Arts Program) created by FDR during the Great Depression. Painted in 1938 to comfort and inspire the American people during a time unyielding bleak, the Dondero murals are representative of public art that causes people to look to the past for strength and inspiration.
The paint is still drying on the second mural location in Royal Oak. On the west exterior wall of the 323 East Gallery, street art post-apocalyptic figures swim in a sea of chartreuse. As a celebration of its one-year anniversary, the 323 East Gallery recently held a live mural painting event with the aspiration of engaging the arts community in the active creation of public work of art.
This brief comparison of these murals illuminates two very different attitudes towards art and funding during very similar cultural contexts. The Dondero murals (http://www.wpamurals.com/royaloak.htm) were funded by the American government with the intention of creating jobs for artists and uplifting community morale during the worst economic depression of the Twentieth Century . While the 323 Gallery mural may aspire to engage and uplift the public, their mural was funded by neither government agency nor investor. Instead, the 323 mural is emblematic of the resiliency and self-reliance we need to help art, and ourselves, survive in these tough economic times.
The candy coated exterior of 323 East Gallery (what I like to call skittle green) is a resounding call to deviate from the hum drum of your week and pop into this candy store for adults. “In terms of one-of-a-kind items, we have something here for everyone, and that’s huge, ‘cause I like variety,” says owner-director Mike MacKool. From hand-saw earrings and airplane necklaces, to dandy deer heads and neon spandex pants, 323 East Gallery truly has something that is bound to catch your eye.
“I think we finally put our finger on it recently when we created our tagline, which is ‘creative culture,’” states MacKool. However, he isn’t just talking about creating things that are aesthetically pleasing, but instead fostering a resourcefulness that is so necessary in this recession. “It’s so huge for people to start thinking differently, changing the way they think and even the way they construct business. If we don’t change our pattern of thinking, our situation is never going to change. It’s time to activate the right brain. You just need to come up with new ways, because obviously something didn’t work in the past, ‘cause otherwise we would be hurting as bad right now. Everybody feels it right now.”
323 East Gallery started as a creative agency pioneered by Jesse Cory and Jason Schultz. As MacKool puts it, “they had a great space up front where they wanted to create retail outlet. That’s when I met up with them and we all threw our ideas together and created a boutique gallery retail space that’s completely different from anyone else… the idea was completely organic. Originally, it was a gallery, then, being in the gallery scene and being to so many openings, I realized that there is no way viable way to make money with an opening. I mean, what am I gonna do, have three artists up on my wall for three months at a time. I really wasn’t interested in that. I wanted to have a creative outlet for everybody.”
When asked what has allowed such a unique place to survive the economic downturn, MacKool credits self-reliance. “One thing that does really help is the creative agency because we do everything internally, from building a website, to doing internet campaigns and marketing. It’s all internal. We have a creative team of five people and we are all working at creating this place and bringing it to everyone. So that’s the biggest thing that keeps us alive.”
Not only was the idea of 323 East organic, but the growth of the gallery was just as natural. “People just came in. With the more PR we get, the more people know us, the more people bring us stuff,” says MacKool. Now, he is rarely seeking out artists. “At the beginning we had to put out a call for artists, but now most of the people who come in here are artists. When they come in here and shop, and they bring something up to the counter, they say, well, how about if I bring some of my stuff in here. I think that’s a pretty good start.”
The whole thing that makes 323 East so impressive is its growth and resiliency. This resiliency comes from a firm self-reliance, from the gallery team to the artists represented on the walls. People here have found a way to lean on themselves in tough economic times by playing it smart and thinking outside of the gallery paradigm. It is not everyday that you can walk into a gallery and purchase a one of a kind piece for $30.00 (I picked up an awesome airplane necklace I picked up from artist Chain Chain Chain). But 323 East Gallery is not just a store. It’s one of the many movements in Detroit where people collect together to create a small push forward.
Bringing people together into a space brimming creativity allows artists to be engaged with each other and in each other’s works. This is what art collectives are all about: a synergy of minds, matter, and motion that propels us forward to the next phase of the art world. That’s why 323 is works so well and endures. We know that there aren’t going to be any sweeping government programs, or anonymous benefactors, or as MacKool puts it “fairy godmothers” to sprinkle gold dust on Detroit galleries. But that doesn’t matter for 323 East Gallery. The place is already magical.