Going beyond tradition

Alicia Robinson

Unsatisfied with being a cog in a corporate machine, Stephen Crout

wanted a chance to be creative.

What he’s helped create is Costa Mesa’s newest art gallery, and

it’s anything but traditional.

Dissatisfied with a job in film production, Crout began taking

ceramics classes at Orange Coast College.

He’s now showing his work and serving as gallery director for the

Co-op Kiosk, a group of student artists with an exhibition at The

Camp, a collection of businesses geared toward active lifestyles.

Students began giving art demonstrations and selling their work at

The Camp over the summer, and the collaboration between the young

artists and the nontraditional shopping center was so successful that

they expanded it.

With its multiple landscaped walkways between buildings, The Camp

offered unique places to display sculptures, and businesses agreed to

show artwork as well, Crout said.

Two weeks ago, the students opened “Explorations,” their current

exhibition, in an unleased store space.

It’s been a chance for new artists to network and learn about

showing and selling their art, but it’s also provided them a gallery

without the markup, Crout said.

“We’re really trying to get away from the car-salesman mentality,”

he said.

“We’re all artists, and we’re all working for each other, so

there’s no one specifically in charge of your work.”

The artists mainly work in ceramics, sculpture and painting. About

15 artists from area colleges are involved in the co-op now, but

interest is growing, Crout said.

The show includes works like 22-year-old Joe Hoffman’s sculpted

ceramic vase that has an organic texture like a wasp’s nest, and

23-year-old Jeni Yang’s painting of a robotic sparrow with a wind-up

key in its back perched above a tiny village.

A reception was held for the artists Wednesday night, and the show

will be up through January.

“This is really new to me,” Hoffman said.

“This is the first time I’ve really gotten to do a full-on show

like this.”

And it’s been a true cooperative effort.

Another artist made Hoffman some business cards, and he built the

pedestals to display in the show.

It can be hard for artists to get their work into a traditional

gallery, so a venue like The Camp lets them interact with customers,

and they do, Crout said.

“We think the art is wonderful.

“The clay, we just think is incredible,” said Sandy Warren, who

came with her husband, Ray. The Newport Beach couple already owns

work by one of the artists in the show.

“We’re also getting a great idea of how they make their art,” said

Ray Warren, before launching into a detailed description of how some

of the ceramics were created.

The collaboration is likely to be expanded further next year, Camp

owner Shaheen Sadeghi said.

He wanted to include the student artists as part of his overall

mission to turn the area into an arts district, and it’s been a hit

with customers, he said.

“It’s soulful, it’s organic, it touches people,” he said.

“It’s not like shopping at Pottery Barn.”

The Co-op Kiosk is at The Camp, 2937 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.