Free Paarking

Address: 2901 Sidney St., Saint Louis, MO 63130
Website: http://freepaarking.com/
Contact: Deo Deiparine
Email: deo.deiparine@gmail.com
Phone: (860) 944-0949
Open Hours: Saturdays 1-4pm and by appointment

How is the project operated?
FREE PAARKING runs off a lot favors and good will.

How long has it been in existence?
Since Summer 2013. The first exhibition opened on August 3rd, 2013

Number of organizers/responsible persons of the project.
FP is a one man operation – with a lot of help from friends in putting up work

How are programs funded?
Right now, out of pocket. Working on receiving grants or sponsorship.

Number and average duration of exhibitions/events per year.
So far, there have been four exhibitions – they usually run for 5-6 weeks. I aim to have 8 by the end of the year.

Do you accept proposals/submissions?
I usually select the artists for the shows but I’m open to proposals.

What is your artistic/curatorial approach?
Much of the work I show deals with digital experience and everyday life. Whether intentionally or not, the artists I work with all respond to their context of a world shaped by technological influence, each in nuanced and perhaps divergent ways.

What’s working? What’s not working?
It’s been hard to balance time between promoting shows and putting on shows. I’m hoping to find a way to optimize spreading the word for openings and make more time for writing and other supplemental material. Recently, I’ve clarified my curatorial aims to myself a little better so I’m looking forward to see how FP develops in the future.

What kind of role do you hope to play in your local art scene or community?
I hope that I can bring in outside voices to St. Louis that wouldn’t otherwise be heard via the larger institutions or other galleries. I think there’s a lot of exciting work being made by young artists in other cities and I hope I can introduce some of those ideas to the local art scene here and by so doing, involve local artists into the larger conversation.

What idea are you most excited about for the future?
I’m excited to start having some auxiliary programming aside from the exhibitions: concerts, parties, talks, etc.

Free Paarking’s next exhibition, (sic) with work by Michael Powell, opens Saturday, April 27th 6-9pm.

Images courtesy of Free Paarking. Photo: Deo Deiparine