Firecracker Studios burns out

In the five years since Sam Johnson and his friend David Mueller started Firecracker Studios, the collective of screenprinters and mixed-media artists has gone through a few little deaths and rebirths. They once had a gallery on Winnebago Street, which folded after about 20 shows. Then it was on to a warehouse workshop on South Park Street for a while. Then a series of “guerrilla” art shows at such spaces as a vacant storefront on East Johnson Street and the Mercury Café near the Square. In January, the group opened a show at, of all places, the Overture Center. The unlikely survivor’s tale came to an end when Johnson announced that tonight’s show and art sale at the Inferno would be Firecracker’s last. “Turns out it's pretty hard for two guys with a love of art but no business experience to run a business,” Johnson said in an email blast. “Who knew?”

Firecracker shows tend to pull in a strong crowd, but according to Johnson, that crowd doesn’t buy a lot of art. At tonight’s show, headlined by Pat MacDonald, visitors can buy posters, shirts, and other works by such artists as Johnson, Colm McCarthy, Grace Lorentz, and Donald Topp. (Also, the $5 cover includes a limited-edition screenprinted poster for the show, which proclaims, “THE END IS HERE” over a big smiling mushroom cloud.) Last but not least there’s also the difficulty of keeping people organized—as Johnson noted in an interview with Decider in January, “I don’t know if you know too many artists or musicians, but they’re all kind of flaky.” Disorganization aside, Firecracker artists’ concert posters and graphic design-informed paintings and prints have lent a playful splash of color to a local art scene that could always use a little more youth and humor. As if to illustrate the point, Decider and Johnson played phone tag for a few days before getting in touch for one last interview, and the call dropped halfway through the conversation. We couldn’t get ahold of him again.

Decider: You’ve mentioned that your shows get decent crowds, but don’t sell enough art. Is it hard to get people to spend money on art?
Sam Johnson: I would say so. The shows we did at the gallery I think were popular because we always had beer and art. It was just kind of a fun party environment, mostly. People tipped really well, ‘cause we usually set out tip jars near the keg and stuff…. I don’t know if it’s hard to get them to spend money, or if they just don’t realize that the only way we can do it is if we make money off of it.
D: What’s your favorite concert poster that you’ve made?
SJ: Probably the Ween posters I did. Well, they sold the best. I really like Ween, so I put a lot into it.
D: Was that for the last Ween show at the Orpheum?
SJ: Yeah. I think they were both at the Orpheum. I did one for the last show, and for the time they played a year or two before that at the Orpheum. The one I did last year had the little three-eyed kid walking the dog, and the one I did the year before that had a strange, ’60s, smiling cartoon-dog face that said “keep smiling.”
D: It seems a lot of creative ventures in Madison are pretty ephemeral. Are you surprised that Firecracker’s gone on this long?
SJ: Hmmm… I’m not surprised. After I started doing it, I just couldn’t stop. There wasn’t anything else I really wanted to do. I think there’s a lot of potential there, but I’m just burnt-out and cash flow is—I just don’t want to throw any more money into it. I’ve been throwing everything I’ve had for the past four or five years into that, and it hasn’t paid off in the way that would make me want to continue doing it right now, I guess. I still want to do something basically on the same level, probably someday, but not right now. I need a break and a rest. I don’t really even feel very creative right now, anyways.
D: What would you tell someone who wanted to start up a new venue or gallery or any other kind of creative venture in Madison?
SJ: I would say, “Look into getting a grant.” [Laughs.] That’s what I’m going to look into. ‘Cause I know they’re out there. It’s hard to prioritize what I need to do because I was always so busy trying to do jobs just to pay the bills that I couldn’t sit down and figure out which grants were available and do all that. That’s actually the advice I would give: Get a grant if you want to open a gallery.