One of the artists, Rafael, spends three weeks, before the official opening, cataloging every piece of wood in the main building, most of it located up on the third floor. And even then is not quite finished. Others do the same with every drop of paint, the yarn, the fabric. Still more materials, in particular the wood and the paint, are found in additional quantities when cleaning out the barn.
A tall, skinny and pale blonde girl, Lydia, is working with photography as her medium, and tasked with snapping most official pictures, for posterity and promotional purposes. Meanwhile Tony, this burly if equally tall, black haired kid in full beard and some trendy horn-rimmed glasses, works almost exclusively with video. He has dedicated himself to interviewing people, shooting historical material on the progress made around here, in addition to his other artistic efforts. Anything of use in either of these realms Grace uploads to their website, from her perch at the reception desk.
The highlight of this main building, if not the entire compound, everyone seems to agree, is the spacious back room on the third story. With its brick balls, original hardwood flooring, ample tables and shelves built into the walls – not to mention an oven and some pottery wheels left over from earlier incarnations – this was obviously always a workshop. However, its main selling point for many is the back wall, which consists nearly entirely of hinged, floor to ceiling windows, which can flip all the way open if desired. To the left of these, there is also a door leading out onto this fat lip of rooftop, a convenient break spot for any smokers working up here, or anyone else, really.
Design wise, the third floor is also unique from either of the other two. The central stairwell here is flanked by a hallway on both sides, rooms a few artists have already claimed for their own installations. The front, meanwhile, is about three quarters of the way occupied by their quote unquote employee lounge, which features a pair of windows looking down upon the front half of the property. Tucked away in the other remaining corner, there is one additional room, without any windows, which Tony has already staked as perfect for his video project.
But, as most of the artists’ concepts are – and might forever be – in an ambiguous state of completion, it’s understandable that the most accomplished, Tom and Kathy Drucker, attract the most interest here in the early going. While Denise and a couple of others make distant wisecracks that it’s a bit showoffy for these two to have brought completed works with them, for the most part, folks are grateful in that these pieces elevate the entire enterprise, right out of the gate, which is crucial in attracting and impressing folks for these future Saturday tours.
Husband and wife both claim one front classroom in the school building. Kathy’s, on the right hand side, is a little bit smaller, and this makes sense as her pottery takes up less space. Still, with plentiful shelving, not to mention desks and tables, mostly filled by her impressive array of earthen and stoneware, some glazed and some not, in a variety of shapes and tones – along with a smattering of porcelain, although she admits to only trying these for variety’s sake, – everyone viewing these admits this is a damn intimidating accomplishment.
It only seems less so, maybe, compared to her husband’s portfolio. A point that might irk just about anybody else, but, though often pressed by those seeking a little drama, Kathy only shrugs and smiles, gushes something to the effect that, “I mean, what can you say? He’s amazing,” in other words refusing to admit any tension whatsoever between their levels of appreciation.
Tom’s thing is painting landscapes. As he explains it, aside from sketching these scenes out in pencil beforehand, this is all he has ever done, never once entertaining any other phase, or period, or obsession. Brushing oil paints on canvas with a very small arsenal of dull tones, nothing more vibrant than maybe a mute orange. Yet, though operating only between there and pure black, these bleak landscapes, he has somehow fashioned a distinctive, instantly recognizable look and, apparently, much more than a cult following. Landscapes which aren’t quite surreal, though not perfectly rational, either, instead bent just a smidgen askew. Some present whisper that he even has a painting in the governor’s office, and has been the subject of a few documentaries.
One of his hallmarks, perhaps the tiny twist which has elevated him by whatever mysterious algorithm to an almost household name, is that every single painting features at least one vague green-black shape, which most fans and scholars agree looks like a bird. Sometimes it’s buried and sometimes obvious, sometimes a single bird shape and sometimes a flock of them, but regardless of the painting, guaranteed there’s at least one such green-black shape somewhere. If asked, Tom will admit with his offhand smirk that he truly can’t say where these came from or what they’re supposed to represent, only that he’s felt compelled to include them from nearly the outset. Though estimating that there are “three, maybe four” early paintings absent these shapes, from that point onward, this has been his unvarying signature on the rest.
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