Fresno Famous

Last July, Fresno Famous received an agitated call from one of the members of the Induction Center for Contemporary Art (more commonly known as ICCA). Some of the (unauthorized) fliers for the Famous Festival listed the venue as "the ICCA."

But the ICCA is a group of artists, not a physical space. More to the point, the ICCA is a group of artists that has nothing to do with the Famous Festival.

Most Art Hop veterans have come to call the studios at 1830 H Street "the ICCA." But that's the artist collective, not the building itself. The group of artists who christened themselves the ICCA moved into H Street Studios, aka The Army Induction Building, to share affordable studio space in 2002.

When the building was sold earlier this year and plans were announced that it would soon be converted into lofts, the group took it as their cue to look for a new space.

The new Corridor 2122, located at 2122 Mono Street, is the brand new gallery next door to ICCA's new studios. For six months the group of nine artists has been working to get the former laundry service into gallery shape.

"When we first found this place, we knew we had to get a lot more people involved to afford it. The idea was to get as many of our friends together who are working in a variety- rather than having a bunch of painters working together, trying to get all these art making styles or approaches under one roof," explained Stephen Dent.

The new ICCA is a collection of artists at various stages in their careers, working in diverse media.

"We got more of our friends involved, who are working in other disciplines, like William [Raines] does instillation and other thematic types of work, Ed [Lund] has does some installation projects and works sculpturally, Steve Dzerigian's a photographer, Aimee [Frost] does painting and sculpture, and I'm a painter," Stephen continued. The other members of ICCA are Melissa Delaney, Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg, Yumi Kinoshita, and Sally Stallings.

The new space is 4,900 square feet, separated into the Corridor 2122 gallery and the ICCA studios. The gallery has high ceilings, concrete floors, and crisp white walls. In other words, it looks like a gallery.

As Art Hop has grown, art in Fresno has found exhibition space in studios, offices, residences, and shops. Proper gallery space is at a premium, lamented Aimee Frost, who is also a member of Gallery 25.

"Another big reason why we wanted to move is we didn't really have a nice exhibition space. That was one of the main things on our wish list. We needed a professional space that looks good," she said.

Most galleries in town are based on membership, and members wait their turn to show in the gallery space. This leaves little to no time for out-of-town artists to be shown.

But Corridor 2122, with its close-knit group of artists, has the flexibility and freedom to show whatever it wants.

"We wanted to open it up, let other people show, curate shows that aren't membership-based. It's obviously not going to be a commercial gallery because that's not really viable in Fresno, but to have something that provides an alternative to what we have now. What do we have now? We have museums and cooperatives and spaces that aren't really designed to show art. We're hoping to open up a space that is there to show artwork that doesn't fall under the same restrictions," said Quinn Gomez-Heitzeberg, another founding member of ICCA.

"Something that could happen here is give people the opportunity to see something newer and more contemporary, like new media works," he continued. "This space doesn't have the restrictions like a museum or a gallery does in terms of you have to please donors, you have to please members, you have to get more people coming through the door."

One thing Fresno has been lacking is the space to properly show installation art. Gomez-Heitzeberg will be taking the first solo show at Corridor 2122 in December, and will feature installations.

Corridor 2122 will have its inaugural exhibition this Saturday, October 23rd. A group show, it will feature works by the ICCA artists.

The ICCA has big plans for the space in the year to come. The artists see it as a new venue to see performance art, experimental music, and possibly traveling exhibitions on their way to Los Angeles or San Francisco.

Hence the name, Corridor 2122.

Corridor 2122 is located at 2122 Mono St. downtown. Open on Art Hop and by appointment. The premiere exhibition opens Saturday, October 23, from 5pm to 9pm. Email info@corridor2122.com for more information.

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