The downtown studio’s spring open house features new artwork, live tattoo artists, music, desserts, and a packed gallery Thursday night.
Swallows, ships, dragons, butterflies, tigers, and mermaids are covering the walls at the Suzie Cappa Art Center this week as the downtown studio prepares for its annual spring open house Thursday night.
This year’s show, Tattoo Artistry Through Time, pulls inspiration from centuries of tattoo imagery and flash art, with roughly 25 Suzie Cappa artists creating hundreds of new pieces for the event. The work ranges from classic tattoo subjects and astrological symbols to flowers, skulls, animals, and more surreal imagery, spread across paintings, drawings, mixed media work, and other formats throughout the gallery.
Part of what makes the Suzie Cappa Art Center stand apart from a typical gallery is that the space operates as both a public exhibition space and a working studio built around supporting artists of all abilities. Throughout the week, artists actively work inside the downtown studio, developing and selling artwork while building professional opportunities in a setting designed around creative independence rather than limitation.
Tattoo artists from Die This Way Tattoo and Bad Cat Tattoo will be onsite doing flash tattoos inspired by themes and imagery connected to the artists’ work. DJ Baked Bunz will handle music throughout the night, bb’s Natural is creating a tattoo-inspired dessert for the event, and Aqua & Acre is sponsoring refreshments.
By the time doors open Thursday evening, the gallery walls will have been completely reset with new work created specifically for the show. Some pieces lean traditional and playful. Others move darker or stranger. One painting might feature a kitten sitting in a teacup while another heads toward skulls and barren landscapes.
The Suzie Cappa Art Center Spring Open House runs Thursday, May 28 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 722 St. Joseph Street in downtown Rapid City. Admission is free.
