Last week when my I went to Blue Duck Barbecue Tavern with my friends, Amber and Joe, we went to a bar that ended up being closed (I’m going to try it again tonight, so maybe it’ll be featured on tomorrow’s post) but on the way I saw an interesting storefront. The only signage in the window said, “Guitar Picker,” but looking inside it looked like there was a lot more interesting things to look at than just guitars. So I noted the address, 817 SW Adams and made a mental note to return. Yesterday I was feeling a little mental, so I decided to return and below are the photos and documentation from yesterday’s visit to 817 SW Adams!
Here we are at 817 SW Adams Street. I took two photos because I wasn’t happy with the straight on shot, so I took one from an angle. So there!
The door is open, so let’s go inside and see what’s happening!
As I suspected, there’s more in here than just guitars, even though if it would’ve been just guitars, that would’ve been worth the trip, but there’s more in here than that! As I entered I met the Artist in Residence here, Kaylie and she said that the place really doesn’t have an official name, but it’s a place that has art, jewelry, pop culture items, aromatherapy and herbs and even more than that. She didn’t want me to take her picture, but said I was free to look around and take photos and she took me on a little tour of the place which is kind of divided up into sections. And so now, lets take go and take a look at some of the different sections and areas here at 817 SW Adams Street.
Guitar Picker
Of course, as the name, “Guitar Picker” suggests, there’s guitars in here and they’re not just your average, ordinary guitars, they’re customized and painted by Steve. I love the Jimi Hendrix one in the second picture. But there’s more than guitars in this corner of the building...
There’s a pop culture explosion happening over here and I could spend all day looking through these items! It’s a sea of vintage records, posters, buttons, art, magazines and more! I’m definitely coming back to spend more time in the Guitar Picker area here, but now we must move on as the clock is ticking and I have to get to work shortly!
The Retail Area
Kaylie said this was the retail area where there’s jewelry, glass items, art and other one-of-a-kind items for sale.
There’s a treasure trove of unique jewelry, art and other things in the two cases alone...
And there’s even more on display outside of the cases. I’m definitely doing some of my Christmas shopping here...whoops, sorry for bringing up the “C” word so early! This section has a website and you can check that out by clicking right here!
Aromatherapy and Herbs
Kaylie showed me this area in the back that has a huge supply of aromatherapy and herbal supplies and books.
Here’s the aromatherapy section...
And these are just some of the herbal mixtures available back here.
Art
There’s lots of local art on display and for sale in here too. I couldn’t take pictures of all of it, due to copyright questions that Kaylie had but here’s some that she let me take. These are paintings by local artist, Suzette Boulais. You can read more about Suzette and her art here on her website.
These beautiful paintings are by Marina Wirtz and here she is on facecrack. Nice work!
Here’s art by Nikki Grim and a Cigar Box Guitar by George Pratt. There’s a facecrack page devoted to all of the artwork and artists here and you can read more about everything there, here’s the link.
Okay, that was fun, but now I have to get to work!
As I was heading down the sidewalk, Kaylie pointed out that Steve Fairbanks painted these trees on the neighboring storefront windows. Very cool and thanks to Kaylie for the tour! If you’d like to check this place out, it’s usually open midweek and weekends and you can call, these numbers for more information: Guitar Picker: 309-645-6020 and Art-Space: 309-282-6768. We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Snow Day and Sign Language by Bob Gordon.