Richmond Art Garage: Where You Fill Up on Art

by Charles McGuigan 07.2021

Richmond Art Garage on Brookland Park Boulevard isn’t like most other art galleries in town. For one thing the artwork comes primarily from emerging artists. What’s more the prices are extremely reasonable. 

“You can get a lot in here for a couple hundred bucks,” says Zachary Reid, who owns the gallery with his wife, Jennifer. “You go into another gallery and you see something you like, and it’s five grand. In here, you can get something for a hundred or two hundred bucks.”

We walk through the gallery, which is divided into two main rooms. The walls are of exposed brick and there is an abundance of natural light streaming through a series of large bay windows. It’s an intimate space tucked between Nomad Deli & Catering Company, and the old bank building. In a former incarnation the gallery was a service station and automotive garage.

 “The objective was to create a gallery for emerging artists,” he says. “We wanted a professional gallery experience for emerging artists.” 

In the front exhibit area, the gallery hosts a different show every month by younger artists who are already somewhat established. “And then in the back we have about fifteen emerging artists whose work we show,” says Zach.

For many years Zach worked in the specialty magazine industry. He served as editor and writer for a local company that specialized in magazines devoted to collectors. “I used to be the editor of a Barbie doll magazine,” he says. “They were all monthly magazines and it was a fun ride. Last one I worked for was about beanie babies in the late nineties.”

When that stint ended he went to work for Lowe’s Home Improvement at their store on Broad Street in the Fan. “I was there the day they opened,” says Zach. “I helped build the schools. It was three soul-sucking years.”

And then he went to work for the Richmond Times Dispatch, working in their features section. “I ended up as a news reporter,” Zach says. “I covered education and I covered the arts. I was on the copy desk at one time. I kind of bounced around. I did that for eleven years.”

It was during that period that Zach first held brush to canvas. “I started painting when I was working at the newspaper,” he says. “I remember going around to the galleries, looking for a place to show my stuff. Richmond’s got a gazillion galleries, and it’s got some really good galleries. But there’s not a professional gallery that wants to deal with people who don’t have any experience. So that was the idea behind Art Garage.”

The gallery formally opened this past October during the height of the pandemic. But despite the timing, the reception has been positive. “It’s been a decent response,” says Zach. “But it’s definitely a destination thing. We’ve had music out here, and one of our neighbors comes and sells drinks. We had Jonathan the Juggler one weekend. If there’s stuff with an opening, people come out. We don’t have a version of First Fridays with eight thousand people on the street.”

That said, there are other art venues on Brookland Park Boulevard.  “Just up the street there’s ALMA’s RVA, a gallery, and SCRAP RVA, which sells used art supplies,” Zach say. “And then there’s a pottery studio called Hand/Thrown.”

Not to mention the vibe of the independently owned businesses, old and new, that grace this commercial corridor. Within a stone’s throw of Art Garage are Ninja Kombucha, Fuzzy Cactus, Brookland Park Market, The Smokey Mug, Ms. B’s Juice Bar, and Ruby Scoops Ice Cream & Sweets. “We have picnic tables outside, and on the weekend Ruby Scoops will send customers on down to us,” says Zach. “She doesn’t have indoor seating, and she sometimes has people lined up all along the block for her ice cream.”

He mentions his neighbor, Anthony Tucker, owner of Nomad Deli & Catering Company. “We own the parking lot and the garden on the other side,” he says. “And Anthony uses it for seating.”

We step outside and walk across the parking lot to a chain link fence that runs along the old bank building. “There’s a neighborhood thing here,” Zach says. “There’s a neighborhood feel among the business owners. We all help one another.”

This fall, once all the city permits are in place, Jennifer and Zach plan a substantial expansion of the gallery that will increase its size threefold. They plan to use a number of shipping containers, some of them stacked two-high, to construct an L-shape structure off the brick-and-mortar gallery. The expanded gallery will create a sort of protective horseshoe around the parking lot, forming a kind or courtyard that will be an ideal space for outdoor markets and live music events. “The enlarged gallery will allow us room for additional galleries, plus studio and workshop space,” Zach says.

Richmond Art Garage is already gearing up for its fall season. In September, the gallery will host a show called Spirituality in Art. Curated by Jennifer Reid, the show will feature the work of more than a dozen artists, with special programs held every weekend that month. 

The following month, Richmond Art Garage will showcase the works of Steven Walker in a special exhibition curated by Jennifer Glave. Steven will also help judge “Extraordin-Air,” a plein air art competition co-sponsored by Richmond Art Garage and GlaveKocen.

As we move up to the sidewalk, just outside the chain link gate, Zach looks up the street to the west, and then to the east.  “It’s a good time to be on Brookland Park Boulevard,” he says. “In a year or two it will even be better.”   

The Richmond Art Garage

205 West Brookland Park Boulevard, 

Richmond, VA 23222

804.340.6155

www.richmondartgarage.com