A healthy dose

There’s a new art gallery opening in Reno’s midtown. The Lasting Dose Gallery is opening at 876 S. Virginia St., on the main drag of Virginia Street, between Taylor and Cheney streets, less than a block from Recycled Records, and walking distance from Junkee Clothing Exchange, Brasserie St. James, Hub Coffee, and other midtown staples.

“We’re in the heart of midtown, geographically,” said Mike Curatello, the gallery owner. “We’re in the dead center of it.”

Curatello is also the owner of Nightmare Studios tattoo shop, which is next door and connected to the gallery, and has been in midtown for eight years. He’s rebranding and remodeling the tattoo shop, which will soon be renamed Lasting Dose Tattoo in association with the gallery. The name “The Lasting Dose” comes from a song by the New Orleans sludge metal band Crowbar.

“I’ve wanted to open a gallery for years,” said Curatello. “I’ve been tattooing for 15, and I’ve always wanted to own an art space.”

Curatello will be co-curating the gallery with local artist and model Kelsey Owens. She’s affiliated with the Generator, the artist workshop in Sparks, and was a lead builder of “Embrace,” the massive wooden sculpture featured at last year’s Burning Man festival. She and Alex Houlton, who owns a wood furniture company, are building a floor for the new gallery, using all re-purposed wood. She sees advantages to having an art gallery associated with a tattoo shop.

“There will be a lot of cross interest and a lot of new interest brought to both sides,” she said.

The gallery will launch with a reception for a group show on Jan. 17. The exhibition will feature work from a number of local artists, including artists associated with the Generator, like Matt Schultz and Jerry Snyder, artists from Reno Art Works, like Pan Pantoja and Aric Shapiro, and works by the artists who work at Nightmare Studios, like Curatello and Tayler Wooten. There will also be works by other popular local artists, like the painters Joe C. Rock, Megan Ellis, Lisa Kurt and Bryce Chisholm.

“I’ve contacted photographers, sculptors, painters, trying to get a good mix of media, a first introduction to Reno of everyone that we like,” said Owens.

The reception will feature drink and food from Nom Eats, a vegan food truck.

The Lasting Dose is poised to be a good nexus point because of its central location. It’s equidistant from the Holland Project Gallery and Stremmel Gallery at the south end of Midtown, and Sierra Arts to the north, Reno Art Works farther to the west, and the Generator to the east.

The Lasting Dose will also be the new home of the Reno chapter of Dr. Sketchy’s Anti Art School, the “drink and draw” live drawing social events—where amateur and professional artists can congregate. Curatello now runs the Reno chapter. He and Owens first met when she modeled for the event. They hope to host Dr. Sketchy events at the gallery on a monthly basis.

The co-curators see the gallery as a versatile space with the potential to host a wide variety of artwork.

“I’m into all of it,” said Curatello. “As long as somebody puts their time and energy and heart into what they’re doing, I’m down for any style. I just like seeing people do stuff that they love.”