OK: What led you to collaborate with Danny Gonzalez?
Piper: Danny is an old friend. He had moved to Norman after attending a wheat-paste workshop at Dope Chapel. Once he was up here, he began regularly helping out at Dope Chapel and I showed him how to cut a block casually. Shortly after, he broke his ankle and told me he was serious about learning. He quit his day job, and I took him on as an apprentice. We’ve been working together for 6 months now and I feel like we’ve both grown tremendously from the relationship.
OK: Obviously, founding and running Dope Chapel is a big part of your life now. How has running this DIY space kind of influenced your own art?
Piper: Dope Chapel has shown me all different types of creative individuals and groups. I think it showed me that where I thought there was a ceiling, there’s just nothing. You can make whatever you want happen as long as you are working with others to benefit the community as a whole. It showed me how powerful we are when we work together, and how desperate people are for authentic human interaction — no one trying to sell you things, just showing how beautiful a culture we have and can create when we’re working together. Finding how to make the space coexist while keeping its integrity is a struggle that comes with the human condition and a large theme in the work.
OK: Has interacting with all these different artists — both visual and performance — who come through Dope Chapel on a weekly basis had any effect on what you are doing?
Piper: Definitely so. There are some that treat touring as vacations, some who expect others to do the work, some who love the spectacle of a show and being the center of attention, and others who are passionately dedicated to creating work and sharing. I have seen that there’s a desperate need of people to take responsibility for the world around us and work together, focusing on encouraging the positive and ignoring the negative. That is a very rare type of person that I have met one or two of in every socio-economic political class bracket. I now create work with the end goal of connecting people, shaking them out of a comfort zone, creating authentic dialogue instead of small talk, and hopefully inspiring them to work together and see we’re not alone in this weird existence. There are so many amazingly passionate people who haven’t figured out how to find a place to exchange their services for adequate support.
What do you think have been Dope Chapel’s greatest successes so far?
Showing people that we are working together for this culture. It’s not entertainment you drop money in for something to distract you from your problems; the door pays the space’s bills and the bands gas. We are not making the show happen alone. I think this realization is hugely empowering. I want everyone to see we can make this city amazing by working together.
We are connecting Norman to the nation and the world. We’ve had artists from 40 states in the U.S. and over nine foreign countries show here in Norman. We are showing people that we want to engage in a larger dialogue, with performing artists from the Netherlands, Estonia, and France; musicians from Japan, Chile, Mexico, and Canada; visual artists from China, France, Korea, and Latvia. All of these achievements were solely through donations and volunteering, over the span of one year. We run workshops that are open for everyone to participate in regardless of their financial situation. We have Weekly Kick It and Create sessions to bond our artistic scene together. We host shows that push ourselves and participants out of our comfort zone to grow. We have two monthly art openings on the second and fourth Fridays of the month scheduled until 2016.
We’ve connected the artists we have here and tried to place an importance on them interacting with the community and take initiative to share their passion and responsibility for creating a scene instead of complaining about the lack of one. Recently, I looked up the opposite of culture and only one word came up: ignorance. I feel like many of us in Oklahoma battle with an ignorance we are portrayed with in the media and through stereotypes. The most effective way to battle this ignorance is with culture.
Where do you hope to see it grow, improve or just evolve from here? What sort of plans do you have for yourself as an artist or Dope Chapel as a space for the rest of 2015?
We are working on moving locations, expanding our studio to include a printshop that would allow for more creative and educational activities, and acquiring the funds to hire full-time employees. Dope Chapel will be hosting a slew of amazing artists throughout the rest of the year.
