Perez Road has an eclectic mix of stores offering a variety of services and products from pet grooming and bumper repairs to bathroom fixtures and custom-made gun holsters.
The diversity of the businesses is one of the characteristics that attracted art gallery owner Colin Fisher to the area five years ago.
“I chose this location because it is off the beaten path,” Fisher said. “You think you're going to come here and get an oil change or some tile for your kitchen and you run into an art gallery.”
Walking through Fisher's gallery is akin to visiting a friend's house rather than entering a business.
Comfy couches and chairs, vases filled with flowers, and curios displaying trinkets are placed throughout the gallery amongst the artworks, creating a relaxed environment.
“Colin's gallery isn't like other galleries where they have so much stuff you can't focus on anything,” said artist Christopher Shoemaker, whose work is featured at the gallery. “There's an overall sense of tranquility. It's surreal.”
The homey atmosphere even includes a resident friendly feline, Gilligan, who welcomes guests and roams the gallery.
Fisher deals in unique artworks he finds visually interesting.
The more whimsical the piece, the more attracted Fisher is to it.
Art enthusiasts won't see western or landscape scenes, or plein air work in his gallery. Instead, a large sculpture of a gorilla made out of metals waits on a pedestal for a new owner.
Many of the artists featured in the gallery are also residents of the Coachella Valley and High Desert.
Shoemaker, who lives in Morongo Valley, got his big break through Fisher's gallery.
Shoemaker originally worked for Fisher helping with the construction build-out of the gallery.
Working in the gallery helped him learn about different artists and their methods as well as giving him a boost of energy to try his own hand at art, Shoemaker said.
“One day all of a sudden he says ‘What do you think of this?' and it was a painting he did,” Fisher said. “I started displaying his paintings and they have been selling like crazy.”
Putting on an art show is an enormous amount of work, Fisher said.
The gallery's current show, “Two Man Art Exhibition,” featuring paintings by Shoemaker and sculptures by Santa Barbara artist Scott Donadio, took Fisher and five employees three weeks to set up.
“We repainted the entire gallery, and changed up the furniture,” Fisher said. “It's crazy. It seems so easy to put together but it takes hours and hours to complete.”
In addition to artworks, the gallery has a menagerie of antique furniture, lighting fixtures and mirrors, as well as Asian and African artifacts for sale.
As a member of the newly formed Perez Road Business Partners, Fisher looks forward to collaborating with other businesses to attract more customers to the area.
“The automobile market right down the street has their own association so we figured if they had a group, the businesses on Perez Road should have one too,” Fisher said. “The group helps strengthen our chances of getting things done in the city.”
Fisher first became interested in art when he bought his first piece of artwork at age of 16. As life progressed, he began to accumulate more pieces.
“I left the advertising business and decided to start selling my things,” Fisher said.
Selling the items at auction didn't appeal to Fisher because it felt more like he was just unloading the items rather than selling them to people who had a genuine interest in the artworks.
Fisher wanted to be able to sell the items in an interesting environment where he could display the items himself — hence the beginning of the gallery.
He originally tried opening in Florida but quickly found the area was not what he was looking for, and he relocated to the Coachella Valley.
Fisher is happy with his little niche in its odd location. He said he wouldn't get the same reaction from shoppers if his gallery was on El Paseo or Palm Canyon Drive.
“You have to love this work or you're doing something wrong,” Fisher said. “I really enjoy that people seek us out.”
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