Going Rogue: Local Shop helps Graffiti Artists Get Up

Bunchs Lunchbox  |  01/13/2010 7:00 am

When you walk into Greg Lukasik's new alternative art shop, Rougeworks, it feels a little bit like stepping back in time. Well, at least the handful of years its been since high school when you popped into your cooler older friend's room.

"I was just sketching up some drawings over there," Lukasik says, "It's a little messy." In the cluttered corner of the small retail shop where he's pointing, a slightly chaotic flurry of pens, markers, scattered loose leaf, and note pads crawl over and spill off of a coffee table, surrounded by a futon, a well-worn, but comfy-looking old sofa, and a new-ish flatscreen TV, video game system naturally in-tow.

"This place is cool," I tell him. I mean it.

A Welcome Addition

Toledo has needed a place like Rogueworks for a while. The place unpretentiously fills the gap of those interested in alternative art - graffiti, street art, vinyl toys, collecting one-of-a-kind screen prints, and more. Lukasik won't hesitate to tell you he's running a graffiti shop. "I want to move more into other areas, but right now, the graffiti supplies are big," he says, making note of a fine array of custom tips and nozzles, paint markers, and top of the line spray paint in just about every color imaginable. He even sells custom colored inks, handmade locally.

Rogueworks opened in October of '09, much to the delight of those artists who prefer the feel of a can to a brush, and who tend to beautify only the most remote, shadowy, and unseen corners of our city. Lukasik and I don't bother discussing the finer points of vandalism, legality of art, or other issues that arise around graffiti. The reason is simple: especially in a city like Toledo, with plenty of ripe, dirty old vacant walls, graffiti artists are your friends. When prompted about his interest, Lukasik says he traveled with his parents a lot as a kid, that's when he began to notice graffiti and began to appreciate it. "When it started, like when I got into it?" he asks back, with a thoughtful pause, "I couldn't tell you. It's always been there." To him, like so many others, graffiti is about more than putting your name on a wall. It's even about more than just the piece. "You know, the people that come in here, usually there are a few people hanging out, sketching, sharing ideas, whatever ... it's not just the art. It's the culture. It's the whole thing. It's getting the piece up, but it's getting there [to the place], getting out, the whole plan. It's a way of life," Lukasik explains.

The artist/proprietor knows he's in for a little struggle in Toledo, especially given the current economic climate, but claims that so far, business has been good. He looks forward to growing over the next year, featuring the work of local artists in a gallery-ish setting, and expanding his already decent selection of vinyl toys (including a freaky, very lage, but cool one - not for sale - donated by local artist UPSO), as well as adding screen printing supplies and other art supplies you won't find at your average big box store. "We sell underground and street art supplies. I'd like to grow to focus on other things, but the spray paint, the markers, that's what we do," he said.

Two Cool Businesses Are Better Than One

Rogueworks hosts Devicious this Saturday, January 16, 7 - 11 p.m.

Each month, Rogueworks will feature a handful of local artists, not just graffiti artists, but screen printers, photographers, and those working in a broad array of other media. What will be unique about these exhibitions is not just that they will be held in the retail space, but that each will transform the space in its own way, specific for each artist, which makes the shop a continuously interesting place to visit, and gives artists an opportunity they'd rarely find in a traditional gallery - to truly make the space reflect their art.

The first of these gatherings will be held this Saturday, January 16 as Rogueworks teams up with local screen printing/t-shirt design company, Devicious. Composed of two young gentlemen from the Toledo-Detroit area, graphic designers Micah Lindberger and Matt Taylor, Devicious is a unique company that hand screens its own fun and funky designs onto shirts, posters, etc. For this show, Devicious will fill out the Rogueworks space with its cartoonishy indie-inspired threads, and music, food, and drinks will be on hand for guests and patrons. Come mingle and check out two cool things in one cool place.

Brain drain? Not with guys like this putting their energy into cool start-up businesses. And what a pairing to cement the scene. Visit Rogueworks this Saturday from 7 - 11 p.m., you'll be glad you did.

Rogueworks (3810 W. Alexis Rd)
419.474.7979
Rogueworks.wordpress.com
Learn more about Devicious, or order goods at www.Devicious.com