TULSA, Okla — A DIY art gallery is making a return after taking two years off due to the pandemic and the young adults behind it are making the show bigger and better than ever before.
The group behind the at-home art galley is called “Don’t Tell Dad”. When it started in 2018, creator Daxton Dyson was just in high school.
He wanted to show off his art but couldn’t find the right space to do it. His solution sparked something that's still alive today.
“I just wanted to create a space where people felt they could be unique without the pressure of being perfect,” said Daxton Dyson the founder.
So they threw a DIY art show at his dad's house, which is what sparked the name of the group.
“The idea that we’re trashing a house with our art and just being kids in a way that maybe parents would disapprove of. Like let's not tell dad we’re putting all our stuff in his house and having all these people over," Dyson said.
Little did he realize it would be a big hit with artists and patrons asking the group to do it annually.
“I thought that when I did it, it would just be a fun summer project,” Dyson said.
Gallery: Don't Tell Dad DIY art show
After another successful show in 2019, the pandemic shut down the idea for two years.
Now as young adults, they are making a comeback. This time in a warehouse just outside of Downtown Tulsa. Which is at least triple the size of the house that originally held the show.
“It’ll be like a walk-through experience with immersive installations and then kind of a market set up and then more of a gallery in here,” said Margo Starr, the social media manager for the art show.
People with "Don't Tell Dad" get their inspiration from art exhibits like Meow Wolf and AHHA’s The Experience in Tulsa.
They say what sets them apart from most art shows is that they don’t charge artists to be part of the event.
“Which is rare. There’s been a lot of art events in Tulsa that I just feel like have not felt super-inclusive or like a truly good opportunity for people and that’s what we are trying to create we want people to feel welcome as artists in this space," Charlotte Bumgarner, the coordinator for the group, said.
The show is free for patrons, too. But to keep it free and make an elevated experience from years past, they need some help with funding.
“This space is probably almost three times the size of our last space so we wanted to make it bigger and better so that money is going towards helping clean up the space, helping get it ready for artists to come show their art, helping have there be an ac, help with art materials for our installations that are going to be on a much larger scale than we’ve ever done,” Bumgarner said.
The group is using the warehouse space at no cost, but they do need donations to pay for insurance for the warehouse.
So if you love art and supporting young entrepreneurs, they are collecting donations through GoFundMe.
Even if you can’t donate, Bumgarner said, “Just tell your friends. Just come and that’s another way that you can really help us.”
Don’t Tell Dad’s DIY art show is coming up on August 12 and 13 starting at 7 p.m.
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