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ASU student starts museum in backyard with SMoCA Good ‘n Plenty Grant

(Photo courtesy of Zachary Hillenbrand)
(Photo courtesy of Zachary Hillenbrand)

The Tempe Museum of Contemporary Arts is located on 14th street behind the Vista Del Sol apartment complex. Founded by students, the museum features local art from around the valley. (Photo by Dominic Valente) The Tempe Museum of Contemporary Arts is located on 14th street behind the Vista Del Sol apartment complex. Founded by students, the museum features local art from around the valley. (Photo by Dominic Valente)

It’s almost 6 p.m. on a Friday night, and people have begun to gather around a shed in the backyard of a home near the Tempe Museum of Contemporary Art.

Museum co-founder and intermedia arts senior Christian Filardo runs TMoCA out of a set of sheds in his backyard with friends and fellow artists Caroline Battle and Chet Lawton.

“It was pretty much a joke at first,” he said, “I’m really involved in DIY and punk music and run a record label from my home as well. I wanted to have a legitimate-sounding place to release things from, so I began to call my house the Tempe Museum of Contemporary Art.”

After a community decision, 21-year-old Filardo was awarded $1,100 through the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art’s Good ‘n Plenty Grant. The museum held its first show two months ago.

According to Tania Katan, program coordinator for SMoCA Lounge, the Good ‘n Plenty Grant seeks to fund ideas that challenge traditional art spaces and impact the community.

Katan is in charge of selecting a panel of professionals in the community to narrow down the number of grant applicants from this year’s 40 to just six. She said they put the responsibility in the hands of the community to select which of the finalists receive the grant.

Filardo described the grant as basically funding the birth of the museum and said that all the money from the grant went into the opening of the museum and running the first show.

“Monetarily, (the grant) definitely made everything come together and gave me an excuse to do things with the museum on a legitimate level now,” he said. “We had to spend a lot of time cleaning and getting things that would suit the aesthetic of the space in order to get the space actually ready for showing.”

According to Katan, ideas like TMoCA are changing the paradigm of how art is presented.

(Photo courtesy of Zachary Hillenbrand) (Photo courtesy of Zachary Hillenbrand)

"I think (TMoCA) is really smart," Katan said. "Not only is it conceptual, it addresses the interesting idea that not every artist will be able to show their work in a museum, even if they want to.”

While he has enjoyed the successes of the museum’s first two shows, Filardo is unsure of where the museum is headed.

“I’m at a point in my life where everything is kind of up in the air right now," he said. "I’m finishing up my last semester studying intermedia art at ASU, and I don’t really see (TMoCA) making a legitimate profit.”

Filardo explained that the museum’s shows are free and that it does not sell any artwork and, though the first show was funded by the grant, costs for subsequent shows are being paid for directly out of his and the artists’ pockets.

“It’s totally subjective to each show, too," he said. "Some can cost close to nothing while others need hundreds in order to fund.”

Despite his uncertainty about the future, Filardo said he is happy with the museum and could see it becoming a nonprofit in the future.

“(TMoCA) is more of a community art space that can act as a catalyst for people to open their own art spaces and show that you don’t need anyone to make or do art and be in a gallery,” he said.

In addition to trying to host two shows per month, the museum also features a workshop with supplies for artists to use and an archives section filled with various artistic items such as comic and art books, VHS and cassette tapes and sculptures.

The museum's latest show, Vision Quest, featured photographs and artwork from various creatives from around the world including ASU alumnus and Tempe photographer Bucky Miller as well as an interactive artist talk/storytelling experience from Kristen Bauer and Peter Bugg.

"It's always a nice feeling to see your work on a wall," Miller said. "To know that you've worked on this and now that image is being displayed and people are enjoying it and the space is a great thing to feel and see."

TMoCA is planning to have another show in April and will take a break after May for the summer due to high temperatures.

 

Reach the reporter at zachary.hillenbrand@asu.edu

 


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