Car crash leads to community art event
The palette covering up the broken window at The Fargo. The Fargo hosted an art event on April 14. (Savannah Lundberg | Northern Star)
April 15, 2023
DeKALB – A car crash turning into an art event is not ordinary; but it happened.
The Fargo, an indoor skatepark with its own music venue at 641 E. Lincoln Highway, experienced a not-so-normal incident on March 15 when a car blasted through its front window.
It is unclear why a car crashed into The Fargo.
After cleaning up the shattered glass, the staff put up a wood palette that covered the window to keep the building insulated.
The large blank wood palette sat in the center of the front wall surrounded by luscious green plants and abstract art.
“It’s kind of ugly,” said Zachary Villegas, a Fargo staff member. “I just figured it just makes a lot more sense to have art on here.”
Villegas was the brain behind the community art night, spinning the unfortunate incident into an opportunity to invite the DeKalb community to come “make art about it,” according to the Fargo’s Instagram.
The event included an opportunity to decorate the wall with all sorts of different tools, but mainly with paint and markers. It was a smaller event, as people came in and out to provide their contribution. Villegas said approximately 20 people showed up.
Professional artists, along with people who just wanted to put some paint on some wood, all were invited to come and participate.
Patrons collaborated with distinctive designs to create one big work of art. On the palette was graffiti, a cartoon of Garfield the cat, a collage of cut outs and even a drawing of an 8-bit Mario.
Just like the venue was repurposed – an old theater turned into a venue and a skateboard shop – the palette will be repurposed when a new window is installed.
“That wood is the same thickness of wood we use to build skate ramps, so it will probably turn into a ramp,” said Ariel Ries, owner of the Fargo.
“We want to support the art community,” Ries said. “I would love for more artists to take advantage of the space that we have here.”
The Fargo will be hosting another event with art vending and live music with the bands Satin Black, INPO, Jimis Peculiar Mind and The Ratigans at 7:30 p.m. April 28 at their venue.