Gainesville, Florida isn’t that big of a town. However, recently a strong sense of culture and music has been steadily growing. Two years ago, local artists Evan Galbicka, Joey Fillastre and Felici Asteinza turned the former New Hope Faith Temple into a a collaborative art environment now known as the Church of Holy Colors. The space functions as an ever-changing floor-to-ceiling interior mural, working gallery, and recording studio for local artists and musicians. Church of Holy Colors is exactly what it sounds like. After purchasing a small church on the Fifth Avenue block, the artist literally painted the building (interior and exterior) in an array of colors and patterns.
As part of the groups non-technical mission, they aim to simply reduce their consumptive footprint. Sounds pretty simple, right? The group and volunteers seek leftover waste and building materials from around the town to bring into the space. What they do with these materials is ever-changing.
Now, the Church of Holy Colors is ready to take their immersive art experience on the road. It has been given the chance to spread its vision across the country through several important opportunities. From the Visual Artist Network residency in Miami, to an enormous mural commission at the Museum of Working Artists in Redhook, Brooklyn, the Church is planning a mural tour to share its art, music, and progressive ideologies everywhere on that 700+ mile strip of I-95 in between the two cities.
If you haven’t experienced Gainesville’s vibrant underground culture, the Fifth Avenue block (part of a currently developing land-share/trust in downtown Gainesville) is a great place to start. The block is home to CHC and several other community-minded and supported ventures, such as the Civic Media Center, the Citizens’ Co-op, the Sequential Artist Workshop and the Repurpose Project.
The Church of Holy Colors / 11 SE 5th Ave. / Gainesville, Florida
Poetry in Motion
I Will Never Change
