Base Art: Concord on the Bounty
By Fabienne Christenson, Artwhirled

Of all the galleries that I have been associated with over the years, Base has left me with the fondest memories. I remember sticky August nights in the courtyard swilling beer and arguing about Alan Ginsberg while the human-heated gallery was blazing with lights and art. It's a Jack Kerouac kind of place. I remember street people dropping by to tell their stories, a long-ago private fistfight over honor, serenity in adversity and more heart than I ever have seen since -- just for the pure innocent joy of being part of Base Art. I've seen members turn themselves inside out for the deserving as well as the ungrateful. That was the Base I remembered, and it still exists.

Base is the oldest cooperative artists' gallery in Cincinnati. Since its beginning in 1991 it has outlived all of the other cooperatives that sprouted in the optimistic early '90's. They have about 15 members, and their number has remained steady even though all but one have come and gone since 1998! Physically, Base Art is a storefront on Main Street directly across from Kaldi's. Visiting the space is like a trip to Soho. The interior is divided into five galleries connected by a central hallway and terminating in a big sunny atrium. Each gallery can host a different artist, theme, or installation; which makes you feel as if you are going to be exposed to a lot of art. They don't put on staid presentations. When I walked into the gallery, a bank of televisions were playing a video install by Craig Caudill (known for Controlled by Bees) who has exhibited at SSNova and other places. His work is not tame, and when I am there Japanese film clips were interspersed with "breakaways" to create a hypnotic state. Nam June Paik? Yes, there were elements of that. Made me happy to be in Cincinnati.

Another room held the work of Richard Eyeman. He is a realist painter who uses the images of Mexican wrestlers and Modern Mothers to make his point. Very effective for the subject matter -- foreign/uncomfortable/edgy and squirm producing. He knows how to get your attention. In ways that few local artists dare.

Beside its artwork, Base Art is famous for generosity to the community. Members practice local outreach with shows involving such charitable organizations as: Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Clovernook Center for the Blind, the Center for Creative and Performing Arts, Art Thing, and the Peaslee Center for Children. One of their biggest exhibitions was Raymond Thundersky, sponsored by Cinergy and attended by the likes of Lois and Richard Rosenthal. Mr. Thundersky is a Native American who suffers from autism. His paintings are about the destruction and rebuilding of our city and somehow they have the draftsmanship of the Plains Tribes about them in their quietude and stateliness. Sales were brisk that night. Doing good can be rewarded.

Base's bigheartedness extended to refreshments on Final Fridays, until it went overboard. A huge table of: breads, salads, sweets, cold cuts and more was a fixture of Base Art for years. "We had to cut back on the food aspect," laughs one member, "It just got out of hand. We were feeding everyone with Tim Tatman's famous Jalapeno Corn Bread and the like!" That means diners included: everyone off the street, on the guest list, friends of invitees, some people who even visited the openings from far away just to get a free dinner. Many is the time that I recall seeing a bank of visitors with heaping plates waiving their plastic forks around merrily and exclaiming that this was their second or third helping. One memorable culinary bit was a photography show where the artist made life-sized cameras out of chocolate in molds (with white chocolate lenses and buttons for contrast). Each one weighed more than a regular chocolate bar! Good thing the nibbles have reduced themselves to chips and dips now because feeding the masses could make the place go broke!

But the bonhomie goes far beyond mere food. Base Art was (and still is) the home to all sorts of opening reception performances. Belly dancers and fire-eaters, palm readers and tarot cards have been part of the evening, not to mention musicians. No form of entertainment is too unusual. The members and guests wildly appreciate it all as well.

So after my observations and reminiscing I settle down to talk to four members of Base Art: Craig Caudill, Chris Specht, Nick Helton, and Rick Elliott. I ask the dreaded question: do you consider your gallery to be cutting edge on Main Street? Nick Helton modestly demurs. "We aren't that trendy, like some of the other art galleries." Chris Specht adds," We are more of a middle but experimental gallery for those who want to follow their own path. We don't insist on the 'senior exhibition' look and feel. We want the artists to follow their own path. We're not that flashy." Somehow they look pretty much on the cutting edge to me. "We don't take ourselves too seriously," adds Specht," we don't take snobbism or shock-value too seriously, either." Chris Caudill laughs," We've never had a bad crowd, but then again we have interesting shows." Take the night that John Rice created a 1950's looking spark generator (like what you see in a Frankenstein movie), and Chris Caudill put it on top of a television set so it looked like a "rabbit ears" antenna. Then the can-can girls (or you could say strippers) came in wearing wire clothing. They were local people who just got in the spirit of the evening. It was Halloween.

I ask about the alumni. "A lot go on to graduate school," says Craig. This fits in with impression I got of the explosive creativity of undergraduate painting school yearning for a wider audience, combined with the desire for more structure to the work and more challenge--a sure recipe for graduate school. Rick Elliott adds, "Some of the former members have gone on to galleries in Pittsburgh and Indianapolis and pretty well respected galleries in Cincinnati."

What do you think is in the future for Base? Craig says, "Jim Tarbell is doing a lot for the arts here in Over the Rhine. It is a much safer place than it was a while back. I'm a bit biased because I'm crazy about Over-the-Rhine, but still... I think it is more chic now than it has ever been." That raises a chuckle from everyone in the room.

OTR chic? Yes, as amazing as that seems. Rick Elliott explains, "The Art Academy's recent decision to move down here did a tremendous thing for Over-the-Rhine as an art center. It will encourage more people to come down and see what we have to offer. That can only be a good thing. For instance OTR is such a powerful attractant to artists that several spontaneous art galleries sprang up and opened their doors for Final Friday. They were located on Clay Street and were shut down because there were too many people who wanted to be there and the buildings didn't meet the code. Now, that says something. OTR is the 'Entertainment District' of Cincinnati." That is heady coming from Elliott who has weathered the cycles of OTR since the hazy 1990's (when OTR competed with Mt. Adams for art clientele) to the 2001 riots and subsequent downturn, to the current huge positive backlash of this year when art galleries are shut down for being too popular.

So, I want to ask the question: what would you wish for Base Art and Over the Rhine if you had one wish?

Craig Caudill would like an Art Festival--Big Block Party. But that's Craig's style, pedal to the metal and let's have no limit to art.

Chris Specht looked thoughtful and said, "I'd like the same thing Craig does, except I'd want a smaller version, more like a sidewalk sale. I want to attract tourists who eat at Kaldi's and bring people down here to purchase art."

Nick Helton says, "I'd wish for more people to come in here, especially during regular gallery hours. We have good openings, but I would really like to see more people making art part of their everyday life. I imagine people who would be checking out the current art on offer like we all check the local weather or sports, or what's on special at Kroger."

Chris Specht adds, "For all of the economic problem, we have seen good sales, better than last year, but it is cyclical for an art year. You generally get good sales in the Spring and Fall, and Winter and Summer are tough generally."

Chris sums up the last 12 years of Base Art quietly and eloquently, "There has been lots of hard work invested in this place. Lots of volunteer work. It's hard to stick together, but it happens."

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