First Ward artist Allan Rodewald to host 'drive by' art exhibition

One Houston artist has found a creative way to get a few Houstonians out of their house and admire some art: by putting it out on his front lawn.

"It's like what you've probably seen on the news, you know where they have a little parade down the street and wave 'hi' to grandma," said Allan Rodewald, a longtime Houston artist and resident of First Ward. "I would love to see a car come by with kids looking out the back window, picking out their painting, and it would be great to introduce kids to some art they may not have seen before. This could be a family event."

While selling a piece would be a great bonus, Rodewald said, it could "just be a fun thing to do and get out for a while, and be safe, practicing social distancing."

The coronavirus outbreak has put a swath of the Houston arts community out of work, especially those that require in-person events and galleries to promote their work, he said.

"Artists, we make our money by having people come and view our art, almost always in person. I’ve never sold anything online, all those years painting. It’s not a great avenue," he said. "It's not like music where you can do a stream on the internet, on your phone even, and still get emotional listening to it. It's hard to get that emotion with art unless you can get close up and see the detail."

The drive-by exhibition, scheduled for 3-8 p.m. April 25, will include around 15 pieces of work hung along the cement brick wall around his home, 1402 Dart St., Houston.

Rodewald said there is room for some cars to park and the street allows for drivers to loop around easily.

The only thing that might be missing from a typical art showing?

"The wine, I'm not sure that's going to work, handing out wine to people driving by," Rodewald said.