This gallery doesn’t mind if you wander around with a beverage or two. In fact, it’s encouraged.
ArtBar, a monthly pop-up art gallery at Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora and Sidecar Supper Club and Beer Garden Batavia, gives art fans the opportunity to sip their favorite drinks while viewing the work of about three dozen local artists.
“ArtBar started as a community to promote the local arts scene through an artist-friendly and fee-free show,” ArtBar board member Lindsey Roussel said. “So any money those artists make goes back to them at the end of the night or the next morning when they pick up their work,” Roussel said.
“ArtBar doesn’t take any cut,” she said. “What we wanted to do is a show that is more for the lowbrow crowd that maybe doesn’t have a lot of money to push their art in galleries. So they have an opportunity to do a show at pretty much no cost to them.”
By “lowbrow crowd,” Roussel is referring to the style of art that is most commonly displayed at the pop-ups.
“We accept all art, but we tend to lean more towards lowbrow, which is more like the gritty, punk style art scene,” she said “More bold lines, bright colors with a lot of nitty-gritty kind of art. We did a couple of shows where we had people do pieces on cardboard with spray paint, so very street style, which is super fun and expressive.”
Established in November 2012, ArtBar is celebrating its 10th anniversary season. In high school at the time, Roussel became involved in the pop-up after learning about it from one of her teachers.
“I never though I would be doing it this long, but the community is so great and it’s just been really fun over the years,” she said. “So I got the opportunity last year to join the board and earlier this year to start my own version, which is ArtBar Batavia.”
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Roussel, who lives in Batavia, started the ArtBar at Sidecar Supper Club on the second Friday of the month as a way to give the artists more exposure, as well as a second chance to sell their work.
At Two Brothers Roundhouse in Aurora, pieces tend to be priced under $500, with most between $50 and $200, she said. “Sometimes pieces get a bit more expensive if they’re a lot bigger size-wise,” she said.
For ArtBar Batavia, it’s a much smaller show, so it has a much smaller size maximum for pieces, Roussel said.
“Generally those pieces are $50 and under, and that’s what usually sells well,” she said. “There’s always going to be something outside that range, but that’s not the average.”
A print table at every show gives artists a chance to sell prints of their work as well.
“A lot of artists, that’s where they make their money,” Roussel said. “It’s a cheaper alternative to buying art and having more affordable art.”
Every show has a theme. Typically it is the same theme for both the Aurora and Batavia pop-ups. However, this month they are different. ArtBar is celebrating returning to the tavern at Two Brothers Roundhouse May 6 after using the cafe as its gallery space during the pandemic, so it is having an open theme, allowing artists to bring whatever they want.
“And ArtBar Batavia it’s Friday the 13th because it’s on Friday the 13th so we’re going to make it spooky-type show,” Roussel said.
The monster-themed shows always do really well, she said.
“Because for lowbrow, that’s the moneymaker for a lot of the lowbrow crowd,” she said.
Typically ArtBar Aurora usually ends in June or July, and then takes a two-month summer break before starting its new season. ArtBar Batavia goes through summer for a full year season.
The shows feature a healthy mix of new and established artists, Roussel said. Some are part of the lowbrow scene but have also shown their work in higher-end galleries or do murals.
“It’s a very wide range of people, which I think helps make it a very inclusive community because a lot of the younger people are getting the opportunity to show with the more established artists,” she said. “And for a lot of the more established artists, it’s a much more relaxing environment because it’s not as serious.”
The ArtBar pop-ups also help build community, because these types of shows “make it a less competitive scene,” she said. “So a lot of artists become friends and they help each other and they do collaborations and it just makes for a very healthy art community.”
Those interested in showing their work at ArtBar can use the submission page on the ArtBar website or reach out to it on social media to send in a couple of pieces of work.
“Then the board decides whether or not they can get in. If we don’t think they’re ready yet, we give them a little bit of a critique and then usually in the next year or two they’ll try again and make it in,” Roussel said.
For those starting out, it’s a way to have a monthly show, network and create additional opportunities. Roussel said she learned more about being an artist from steadily showing work at ArtBar, working with artists and doing other shows than she would in a classroom.
“I think there should definitely be a big push for hands-on experience in the art scene. And I attribute all of my growth as an artist to ArtBar,” she said. “Because the cool thing that ArtBar does is their themed shows, so as an artist, it pushes you.
“I never did portraits before, I never did more detailed work, and then as I’ve been doing ArtBar, I’ve had to match themes. So I ended up growing a pretty decent following just from my work getting better over the years.”
ArtBar: The Tavern Show
When: 7 p.m. May 6
Where: Two Brothers Roundhouse, 205 N. Broadway St., Aurora
ArtBar Batavia: Friday the 13th
When: 7 p.m. May 13
Where: Sidecar Supper Club & Beer Garden, 12 N. River St., Batavia
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Tickets: Free admission
Information: artbaraurora.org
Kathy Cichon is freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.