^
I Support
- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of New Times free.
The Rise Project's "pop-up" contract at 610 E Roosevelt Rd. (formerly Perihelion Arts) in downtown Phoenix expires at the end of August, but Ruben Gonzales and 11th Monk3y Apparel and Designs are sticking around.
The local artist and designer has been selling his screen-printed hats and tees out of the front of the space alongside the work of his friend and Rise Project founder, Joseph "Sentrock" Perez.
Come September, Perez will take his hip-hop-based youth arts operation elsewhere and Gonzales will join efforts with local artist
Monica Robles and
Dave Bjorn to open a collaborative retail/design studio.
The three come from pretty different backgrounds; Gonzales has been a regular in the local breakdancing and street art scene and
started creating apparel two years ago when his friends introduced him to screen printing and digital art software. Robles' graphic design, photography, and painting has been featured at Paper Heart, Kitchen Sink Studios, and Produce Gallery. And Bjorn's involved in the local design community; he founded Dojo Collective, a community outreach program for design, in 2009, has worked with Tumble Center for Youth Development in Phoenix, and is currently a health policy consultant.
Gonzales says that together, the artists will collaborate on various projects, while splitting the space. He'll stick to selling his artwork and apparel out of the front room, Bjorn will run his business consulting firm and side projects upstairs and will be "facilitating community art and design projects out of the space to connect creative professionals to their neighborhoods." Robles will display her work throughout the space.
"We want to provide people an office away from their home, but still have that at home office feel with out the house distractions," says Gonzales. "I want to do simple printing classes, Monica might be doing photography classes and [Bjorn] I think is going to do his stuff, how to network, website, consult ..."
No word on the future of
Amy Young's
Perihelion Arts, which
has been on hiatus since May. Young told Jackalope Ranch at the beginning at the summer that she planned to return, and that she'll continue to represent the work of local artist,
Rachel Bess (whose work will now be displayed at Lisa Sette), in Europe.
See more of
Gonzales,
Robles, and Bjorn's work on their websites and stay tuned for more information.
Follow Jackalope Ranch on Facebook and Twitter.
Keep Phoenix New Times Free... Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Phoenix with no paywalls.
