As a teenager in the mid-1980s, Peyton Scott Russell snuck out of his mom’s North Minneapolis home at night to create his graffiti art. “There was something magical,” said Russell, who was inspired by the 1983 documentary “Style Wars.” “And I continue to follow that.”
George Roberts, Russell’s English teacher at North High — and the dad of his good friend — helped to keep Russell on track. Their lives continued to intersect over the years as both became active in the Northside’s growing art scene: Roberts opened Homewood Studios in 1999, a gallery and studio space. And Russell grew as an artist, creating graffiti under the moniker Daskarone, showing his work and taking on public art commissions in Minnesota and nationwide.
In 1995, Russell co-founded the Northside cultural hub Juxtaposition Arts. And in 2020, he earned national attention for his portrait of George Floyd, “Icon of a Revolution #1,” installed at George Floyd Square.
Today, after more than 25 years at Homewood Studios, Roberts is passing his legacy along to Russell with the sale of the building. “We’ve been talking about this for years now,” Roberts said. In a nod to his friend and teacher, Russell hopes to rename it Roberts Gallery once the sale is complete.
Related: Celebrating 30 years as a North Minneapolis hub for the arts (and really great sneakers)
Nestled in the Willard-Hay neighborhood of Near North Minneapolis, Homewood Studios features a front gallery and space in the back for five working artists. Large south- and east-facing windows stream sunlight onto its hardwood floors.
Prior to becoming an art space, the building saw a stint in the pickle-making trade. “There was a woman who was a cook at Lincoln School, right around the corner, who would come over here on her lunch hour and pack pickles for an hour,” Roberts recalled.
Roberts moved to the neighborhood in 1970. His wife, Beverly, was active in the community and encouraged Roberts to get involved, too. He noticed something lacking: investment in the arts.
He continued teaching high school while keeping an eye on the building for sale at the corner of Plymouth and Russell avenues. He tried to negotiate the price down, without success. But when the owner moved to Florida, Roberts used money left to him from his father and bought it for half the original asking price.
“I had pictures in my head of what this could be — nothing like what it has become. It’s really amazed me how it takes on its own life and keeps building and keeps changing.”
In 2000, fellow public schools teacher Shirley Jones opened Plymouth Avenue Art Studio next door as an education and exhibition space. In 2018, the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery opened a quarter mile away, helping to form a community of cultural centers in the area.
An intention to create, not to destroy
Over the years, Russell has showcased his work at Homewood, often painting directly on the gallery walls. “I like to use a space as a canvas as well as frame,” he said.
Because Homewood had been abandoned prior to becoming a studio, Roberts didn’t worry much about wear and tear. “If somebody came in and said, ‘Can I paint on the walls for my show,’ I’d say, ‘Sure, we can then paint over it afterwards.’”
For Russell’s part, he approaches graffiti as “a high art expression,” he said. “My intention was always to go out to create, not to destroy. I was always somebody that was trying to produce something that was beautiful and pleasing, not only for myself but for people that saw it.”
Over the summer, Russell used Homewood as a base for his well-established youth arts program, Sprayfinger, while also learning to be a landlord and planning future exhibitions and programming.
“George created this beautiful space that I don’t have to do much to, but I do need to learn how to do maintenance,” he said, “to take care of problems and issues that the current tenants have, and start establishing rotating shows and figure out the system that works for me.”
Russell said the summer was hectic, with youth programming filling the space, but as things have settled down, he’s using the downtime to plan the gallery’s future. He hopes to do a grand opening in the spring to introduce new exhibitions, workshops and rotating shows.
He recalled an opportunity he passed up decades ago to purchase a building nearby. “I dragged my feet on it and someone got it,” he said. When Roberts proposed that he buy Homewood Studios, Russell kept thinking about his missed chance. He realized, “There really isn’t anything in the way except me,” he said. “Let’s pull the trigger.”
It was Roberts, the teacher, who suggested talking about the sale “as the joining of two legacies.” Roberts said, “I do like the idea that there’s a legacy in this building.”
The post Sale of Northside art studio represents the ‘joining of two legacies’ appeared first on MinnPost.
Want more insights? Join Working Title - our career elevating newsletter and get the future of work delivered weekly.
