Conceptual duo Brian K. Jones and Brian K. Scott (better known as Chuck and George) founded the free event to encourage visitors to poke into parlors, pause on porches and explore a dusty studio or two to see how the artistic sausage is made.
The event is also an opportunity to take home a piece or two without a gallery’s prices tacked on top. Although this is technically the 23rd year (the duo took a slight pause during the pandemic), things are as flexible as ever. The Brians were confirming participants up until early this week, which fits into the tour’s equally laissez-faire early days.
“The SpeedBump began as a kind of mockery as we were having a conversation [with our neighbor] about how ridiculous home tours are,” says Scott. “We were joking about how smarmy it was, so we thought we would have a studio tour on the same day as the Oak Cliff Home Tour and show up to our studios. We wouldn’t do anything, just ‘There is my pile of rags.’ We’d put up these maps, and you’d end up at anyone’s studio. By the third year, we had a rash of new people, and we love them all.”
Throughout the list of stops, the Chuck and George house on Marlborough Avenue remains at the top of the list because, quite frankly, you’ve probably never seen a home like this outside of a PG-13-rated PeeWee’s Playhouse. Every corner, surface, and wall is crammed with art created by and for the Brians, and whatever pieces they’ve shown in a gallery in the past year join the array for SpeedBump.
“My neighbor describes it as the Alice in Wonderland House,” says Scott. “It could definitely be the setting of a horror film. If I wake up in the middle of the night and walk through the house, I think, ‘There could be a horror film here.’ Sanford and Son of Sam is another good description of our house.”
Each year, the Brians invite multiple artists to show off their wares in their abode. This year's artists include Kelley Cheek, Brett Ardoin, Ray-Mel Cornelius, Hahm.Made, Gleek! and Julie Libersat.
Scott is particularly excited about Mylan Nguyen’s quirky ceramic pieces, which take over the porch.
He says the biggest complaint the two have received over the years is, “There were too many stops to see, and I thought that’s a legitimate criticism, but there’s a website so you can curate your travel. You can look at the menu before you order, or you can be open to a wonderful surprise.”
Here are just a few unmissable spots at the Visual SpeedBump Art Tour stops.
The Divine Shrine
525 S. Marlborough Ave.A must-stop on this year’s tour is Stephen Ball’s temple to Baltimore’s favorite actor, singer and drag diva. Taking over the sugary pink living room is a collection of ephemera (including posters, figurines, clothing, paper dolls and VHS tapes) devoted to the performer formerly known as Glenn Harris Milstead.
Ball began his Divine collection in earnest in 1986 with a poster for Trouble. He added finds over the years, most significantly Divine’s birth certificate, baby book and some Polaroids that Milstead’s mother put on eBay in her twilight years.
“I discovered Divine when I was about 13 at the local video store," says Ball. "I saw the cover of the video of Female Trouble and thought, ‘This is interesting.’ I figured I’d rent it, and that was the beginning of the end.”
Celebrating his second year of SpeedBump, Ball, who works in administration at his day job, wasn’t aware that being on the tour was an option for a non-artist. Still, after he popped by the Brians' house and they saw his place, it was apparent the neighbors were birds of an obsessive feather.
“We kind of looked at each other’s places, and it was awesome,” Ball says. “We’ve been neighbors for so long and didn’t know of each other’s stuff. What I collect is a genre of artistry. I tried to find the exact quote, but it’s either 'Life is nothing without obsession,' or 'Without obsession life is nothing'!”
Ball’s collection is poised to have a pop-culture moment as the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures mounts a retrospective of Divine’s favorite director, John Waters, later this fall. He says he's happy to share his items so that Divine's outsize attitude and iconic visage may garner new fans.
“I've collected things throughout the years, but I was drawn to Divine because it was this heavy-set person who was large and in charge and didn't take shit from anybody. I've always collected things throughout the years, but I've stuck with Divine."
If you miss Saturday’s event, drop him a line at [email protected] to schedule your private tour.
Oak Cliff Pottery
915 S. Franklin DriveThe best spot to find a last-minute gift for Mother's Day is ceramist James Olney's studio, where he offers everything from $22 mugs to vases that sell for a couple of hundred dollars. Because he's recently moved his studio to the house next door, he's offering larger works that he dubs "funky little monsters."
"People have been using them for various things, from ashtrays to vases," he says. "They're quite funky and more on the eccentric side."
For Olney, who has participated since 2016, the event is a great way to solidify the community for the visiting audience and artists.
“The community is what’s so important,” he says. “As artists, we spend a lot of time alone and with our thoughts. To be able to come around and be part of a larger art community where friends of other artists come and see your work, it gives you a little more hope sometimes. I’ve also partnered with other artists who are doing some collaborative work, and it gives you good ideas. The inspiration behind working as a team as opposed to working independently is so helpful.”
With that philosophy in mind, Olney is also showing pieces from Phoebe Martin this year.
Oil and Cotton
2313 Beatrice St., No. 100This stop has participated in SpeedBump since 2010, and it's a great place for visitors to get a taste of their own artistic process. This year, the Oak Cliff collective Oil and Cotton features a book-binding event with the Dallas Is Lit! Book Fair on the Historic Turner House Lawn, which is happening concurrently.
“We’ll be dissecting a book and binding an artist’s book with the pieces of the book we dissected,” says Cotton co-founder Shannon Driscoll. “It’ll introduce people to the history of the book, the natural science of the book, then just turning all that on its head and using it to rebuild and create an artist book that pushes the boundaries of what a book can be.”
Driscoll hopes the event will help participants get a feel for Oil and Cotton’s many workshops for adults and kids. She also loves that it’s an organic bit of the Oak Cliff lifestyle that remains preserved despite rampant development.
“It’s a great opportunity to peek into the artist’s studios and homes that are part of our community and see how they live and how they work and how it all blends together,” she says. “It’s a really great event because even if you are new to the neighborhood or visiting from out of town, it’s a great way to meet the people who are making Dallas a bit more textured and a bit more vibrant and a bit more special. It gets you outside your box and into the box of someone else.”
The 2023 Visual SpeedBump Art Tour is free and open to the public, beginning at noon on May 13 and running until 6 p.m. Events at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and Mighty Fine Arts start at 6 p.m. and run until 9 p.m.
