Triangle Arts Macon exhibit a delightful surprise for local art lovers

Rain or shine, you can take a drive today into Macon’s historic district – its historic industrial district – and see some of the city’s freshest art.

You’ll be going to Triangle Arts Macon, in days gone by the location of Triangle Chemical Company’s multi-building industrial site at 206 Lower Elm Street. It’s several blocks east of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and takes a twist and a turn to get there, but more on that.

For the past year or so, Ric Geyer, chief creator and developer, has been turning the property into a multi-faceted art installation-gallery and creator-event space all supportive of Macon’s artists, photographers, musicians and other creators as well as its urban-and-beyond neighborhoods and community.

And its art lovers.

By design, it’s also a magnet for murals and urban graffiti. Seeing what’s happening on the grounds and the buildings of Triangle Arts is part of the show but the focus is a drive-through exhibit by local mixed-media artist Rhonda Miller, whose work Geyer said reflects her passion and very tough experience growing up, and photographer DSTO, whose photos of the people and scenes of Macon are becoming widely known. Geyer called DSTO a visual historian of sorts who’s focused largely on Macon and the Pleasant Hill neighborhood.

The exhibit is from 6 to 10 p.m. and cost is $10 per car at the site or $5 in advance if tickets are bought from the link at www.triangleartsmacon.com/drive-thru-details.

Show information is there also.

The low-cost, strictly drive-through, no-frills event is a health-safe, get-out and do-something possibility for those feeling stuck at home due to COVID-19.

What’s there is a delightful surprise and, for lovers of Macon’s burgeoning art scene, it’s the perfect opportunity for a look at what’s taking shape at Triangle Arts.

Though what’s happening at Triangle Arts is new to Macon, Geyer has created similar spaces in old warehouses and industrial sites in Detroit and Atlanta.

Geyer’s award-winning Atlanta site, 787 Windsor, was named best event space in 2018 and in addition to promoting visual arts his spots host entertainment and events like parties, weddings, corporate happenings and reveals (think Miller Beer, Brooklyn Brewing, Reebok and others) and concerts/festivals like Afropunk and Redbull shows.

So why Macon?

“Honestly, I got a little tired of dealing with the big city and started looking for opportunities in a somewhat smaller town,” Geyer said. “I came to Macon and fell in love. It’s authentic and I was impressed with its history in art and music. And I was very much taken by the growing arts community – better than a lot of much bigger places.”

Geyer bought a house and got to work at Triangle Arts while becoming part of the wider Macon community and many arts and humanitarian endeavors. As an entrepreneur-creator himself, he also owns and operates a furniture outfit initially begun by Eleanor Roosevelt.

But there’s another reason Geyer said he does what he does. From Detroit, he said he loves urban settings and is passionate about renewal and being part of helping people in urban communities – artists or not – move forward toward their dreams.

Portions of receipts from today’s drive-through exhibit will go to Macon Housing Authority’s “Moving to Success” program that aids Maconites in getting their own homes and “U Create Macon” which organizes youth events and activities, providing a safe creator-space largely for kids in transitional neighborhoods.

“It truly is one of our main focuses: helping neighborhoods, helping people in Macon as well as emerging artists,” Geyer said. “Showcasing Rhonda and DSTO and contributing to other organizations is part of that. Though we’re a for-profit group, I refer to it as a no-profit because we’re not in it for the money but to make a difference.”

Included among sponsors of the drive-through are the Macon Arts Alliance, Macon-Bibb County, the Mercer Arts Department, Macon Magazine, Shawn Maxwell Photography and Johnny Mo Productions.

To take advantage of seeing the show and a sneak-peek at Triangle Arts, there’s not a direct route from MLKJr Boulevard to Lower Elm Street, so one of the simpler approaches heading south on MLKJr is to turn left onto Edgewood Avenue, go over the railroad tracks then turn left onto 6th Street. The first right after that is onto Elm Street which turns into Lower Elm.

You drive straight into the property from there.

As for other weekend and coming attractions, as mentioned previously, the Grand Opera House’s “Broadway Does Southern Rock: A Cabaret” is Saturday, presented outdoors on the theater’s fire escape with seating in the parking lot. It’s another way to be well entertained at a good social distance. Information and ticketing is at www.thegrandmacon.com.

The Hughes Taylor Band is at the Society Garden today at 8 p.m. with Shaun Oakley sitting in on base, mistakenly listed earlier as being last week.

Coming Sept. 17 is the start of Theatre Macon’s online run of “A Gentleman’s Guide to Murder” (www.theatremacon.com), and make space Sept. 19-20 for Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park’s online “Virtual Ocmulgee Indian Celebration” (www.facebook.com/ocmulgeemoundsnps, www.nps.gov/ocmu).