Wholesome Roc on Channel 19 (outtakes)

Wholesome Roc Art Gallery and Cafe, an alternative art space opened in Chicago in 1987, provided a place for artists, particularly black queer artists, to display their art and engage with one another. This video contains footage taken by Stephanie Coleman, co-founder of Wholesome Roc art gallery and cafe, featuring a news crew filming a segment on Wholesome Roc.

0:00Copy video clip URL In Wholesome Roc art gallery and cafe, a camera crew preps to gather footage of the cafe. Trenton Adkins does the make-up. Members of Wholesome Roc chat and joke with one another. Wholesome Roc’s camerawoman, Stephanie Coleman, mentions that the film she is taking is “the outtakes.”

18:29Copy video clip URL Adrian Royce, a reporter, attempts to perform a sound test with Simone Bouyer and Christine Johnson, but they take a break because of issues with the shot. 

22:21Copy video clip URL During the break, the news camerapeople attempt to tinker with their lightstand. Attendees chat with one another.

25:57Copy video clip URL The break ends, and the three women gather around the table again, preparing to start.

28:29Copy video clip URL Countdown to filming.

28:47Copy video clip URL Filming begins. Adrian Royce, Simone Bouyer, and Christine Johnson introduce themselves. Royce asks Bouyer about the uniqueness of the cafe. Bouyer talks about the openness of Wholesome Roc, the ways it benefits artists, and the comfortable atmosphere of the cafe.

29:59Copy video clip URL Royce asks whether promoting their work is a conflict for artists. “This is giving artists an opportunity to show their work,” chimes in Johnson. “The theory is most artists are starving artists, but this gives young artists the opportunity to show their work and have individuals bid on them.” Bouyer clarifies that artists are required to show up for at least five hours a week to promote their work and talk to patrons, and that Wholesome Roc provides a space for something that was previously missing in Chicago.

31:30Copy video clip URL Royce asks about the differences between what Wholesome Roc does and what typical art galleries do. “We’re actually here for your average person that wants something for their living room or wants something to hang in their kitchen. An original work.” Johnson chimes in about the importance of knowing the artist behind the work personally. The two also explain how they help artists talk to patrons, the self-guided nature of the artists’ promotion, and the casual nature of the gallery.

33:37Copy video clip URL Royce calls for a break due to background noise. 

43:23Copy video clip URL The interview begins again. Johnson lists Wholesome Roc’s events for the month of May. Bouyer talks about what Wholesome Roc means to her. Johnson advocates for supporting young artists by supporting galleries like Wholesome Roc.

36:30Copy video clip URL After prompting, Royce suggests they take a walk around the gallery and talk with the artists present. The shot swings around to the artists watching, who joke around with each other during the break.

37:41Copy video clip URL The news cameraman has Bouyer, Royce, and Johnson keep talking while he captures an over-the-shoulder shot. Bouyer repeats the events going on during the month of May. Johnson goes over her newspaper column Racy Beats, centered on music important to young people. 

40:18Copy video clip URL Static.

40:27Copy video clip URL Video resumes, Bouyer talking about music at Wholesome Roc. Royce asks about what the two women do during the day. Bouyer responds that she works as a commercial artist at an advertising agency. Johnson and Bouyer promote weekend events at Wholesome Roc.

42:48Copy video clip URL Filming stops momentarily. The women continue chatting. The crew begins preparing for the next shot: an interview with John Carpenter in front of his work in the next room. The artists chat amongst themselves. 

45:33Copy video clip URL Coleman captures Michael, an artist, reading in an adjacent room with a young boy, while the news camera crew continues to prep for the interview. Royce enthuses over the art while the news camera crew captures shots of it. The news crew, Carpenter, and Coleman talk about the nudity in the photos.

50:48Copy video clip URL The reporter begins to introduce Carpenter’s work, while Carpenter waits for the interview to begin. The reporter reads aloud the prologue to the exhibit.

53:07Copy video clip URL The crew chats about Carpenter’s work and continues to prepare for the interview.

55:29Copy video clip URL The interview with John Carpenter begins, the news cameraman asking to restart the interview slightly differently.

56:12Copy video clip URL The interview restarts per the news cameraman’s instructions. Royce asks Carpenter to explain the story told by the paintings in the exhibit. Carpenter says that this is his first show, and says that he likes Wholesome Roc because of the lack of restrictions on the artist.

58:04Copy video clip URL The news cameraman asks to cut, as the tape has run out. While the news crew works to replace the tape, the people at Wholesome Roc take a break. The news crew discusses the topic of falsification in news.

1:04:08Copy video clip URL Static.

1:04:16Copy video clip URL Video resumes. The crew begins the countdown to the interview while members of Wholesome Roc talk in the other room. 

1:05:00Copy video clip URL Interview resumes with the same question of why Carpenter likes exhibiting his art at Wholesome Roc. Carpenter responds that there is no bias in selecting the art, as they don’t review it beforehand, which frees up the artist. He explains the process of exhibiting his work, and how the opportunity motivated him to do more work. Carpenter explains his process of creating the series and urges people to come visit and show their art at the gallery.

1:07:52Copy video clip URL The news crew readies another shot. While the cameraman captures an over-the-shoulder shot, Carpenter talks about how his skills have improved in terms of communicating with buyers and what it was like on opening day.

1:09:23Copy video clip URL Due to background beeping of the microwave, the interview breaks again. One of the news crew talks to the reporter about how best to hold the microphone to pick up sound.

1:10:06Copy video clip URL The crew next moves to interview Simone Bouyer on her work displayed in Wholesome Roc. The crew talks about what they do for work during the day, and discuss whether things in life should be computerized or not. The news crew attempts to figure out lighting for the interview.

1:18:48Copy video clip URL The interview between Royce and Bouyer begins. Bouyer explains her series One World. “It’s all about defining our relatedness to the world, our relatedness to each other, and kind of magnifying our unity with the earth and all the people in it.”

1:19:43Copy video clip URL A member of the camera crew asks to start the interview over due to background noise. The interview takes a quick break. 

1:20:20Copy video clip URL The interview restarts. Bouyer explains that the art shown on the wall are not her original pieces, but rather color reproductions and repeats her answer to the past question. Royce next asks about color in the pieces, which Bouyer talks about. Bouyer adds that the originals of her pieces are on display in a gallery in Ottawa, Canada, and future hopes for the series’ growth. When asked about the people in her paintings, she explains that the people are either “protectors” or “representatives” of the Earth. 

1:24:05Copy video clip URL The news producer stops the interview, suggesting they shoot each piece of art individually, asking Bouyer to repeat her words off-camera while they film for the last ten minutes of tape.

1:26:13Copy video clip URL Bouyer repeats the information about “protectors and representatives of the earth” as the camera shows each of her pieces in detail, providing additional information about each specific picture shown.

1:27:06Copy video clip URL The producer ends the interview, saying that they don’t have enough time to cover all of the pictures in detail, the news crew walking on their own to capture their final shots, though Coleman largely focuses the camera on Bouyer. Bouyer points out that Coleman makes her appearance in one of her paintings.

1:31:30Copy video clip URL The producer has Bouyer sign a waver. The two discuss when the program on Wholesome Roc will air. The news cameraman finishes filming Bouyer’s art. Bouyer briefly takes the camera from Coleman, before signing the waver and distributing it to other people to sign.

1:36:22Copy video clip URL Static.