Walk into Area 61 and you may feel like you've wormholed into another universe.
Filled by as much loot as Ali Baba's cave, the art gallery also reveals a sensibility that is almost alien to many galleries; edgy, politicized, provocative and compassionate. Some people may be angered or shocked by what they see in Area 61, located at 61 E. Main St. But co-owner and curator Keeli Crewe knows they won't be bored.
"I hope visitors do keep talking about the art, even arguing about it, once they walk out the door and go home," Crewe says, flashing an engaging smile that coaxes even art skeptics in the door. "This is a home for interesting ideas as well as art
"It's hard to believe now, but my husband and I originally thought of this space basically as a showroom for my husband's beautiful furniture. We figured we would hang a few works by local artists on the walls for color."
Area 61 has a similar name to Area 51, part of Nevada's Edwards Air Force Base and reputed to be the place where, among other fantastical theories, the government takes downed UFOs, experiments in time travel and weather control and develops exotic energy weapons.
Keeli owns Area 61 with husband David and his buddy Rudd Montgomery. Both men are woodworkers and master craftsmen. David's works run from grand dining tables to handcarved wood speakers for sound systems. By contrast, Montgomery's furniture is rough-hewn, as if an Appalachian magician and carpenter teamed up to create them.
But their work shares the limelight with about 30 sculptors and painters whose pieces are splashed across brick walls and tucked under or on top of tables. The bounty eventually spills over into the tiny bathroom, where a small, pastel portrait of poet Emily Dickinson hangs on the wall by the doorway. But unlike most everything else in Area 61, it's not for sale.
"Hart Gallery handed out weatherproof art kits with paints and pastels to the homeless a couple of years ago; I had to buy this when I saw it," Keeli says. "But I'll never know who made it because the artist didn't sign it."
Former Disney "imagineer" and current Chattanooga artist Barry Snyder says he wanted to cause controversy with his "East-to-West" bronze sculpture now in Area 61. God's hand seems to thrust out of thin air, high above the viewer as it reaches toward a human hand erupting from mud that is crawling with 33 tiny desperate humans.
"It's inspired by Psalms 40," he says. "I worked 'round the clock on it. I was obsessed. I couldn't stop."
Psalms 40 says: "I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."
Snyder had to weigh down the base of the sculpture with heavy clay so it wouldn't tip over due to his depiction of God's huge hand, which is barely attached to the human hand.
Other tales of street turmoil confront visitors at Area 61's entrance. W. Michael Bush's installation called "How Much is That Dolly in the Window?" covers a large swath of wall. In it, the painted cutout of a woman in a slip looks like a giant, scared paper doll; one of the dresses cut out to fit her is covered with pennies, another with dollar bills. Bush says he was moved to create it by stories of sex trafficking.
Chattanooga outsider artist Daniel Johnson began using unusual materials such as metal panels from junkyard washing machines as canvases because he couldn't afford store-bought art supplies. Inside Area 61 is an intricate mural etched by the Rising Fawn, Ga., artist, showing a sailboat gliding through a stormy sea across several metal panels. He also carved and burned an ethereal wild garden across the peeling white paint on an abandoned wooden door.
"I've had all my work moved to Area 61, the best gallery in the city to my mind because it's like a family for the artists, so supportive and emotionally invested in the art," says Snyder.
"I'm so glad I didn't retire to Costa Rica and run a bar instead of becoming an artist in Chattanooga."