It’s unlikely that too many St. Louisans reading this piece will have not visited Mad Art over the past nine years, but if you’re from outta town, or have been trapped by heavy machinery for better part of the last decade, you might not be familiar with the former cop house and all the programming there, which has included: art openings, weddings, boxing, 16mm-film projections, craft shows, jazz concerts, more weddings, tributes to Elvis, an international photobooth convention, corporate parties, printmaking demonstrations, Mountain Dew promotions, a petting zoo, DJ spins, improv comedy and a whole bunch more weddings.

That’s quite a sentence, but this is quite a place.

Ron Buechele, the joint’s owner-operator, is the one constant through this just-shy-of-a-decade run and we caught up to him via e-mail to share some thoughts on the space’s ninth anniversary party. It’ll take place this weekend, Saturday, January 30, and we’ll give you the link for details here.

In the meantime, we’ll shoot the breeze digitally for this week’s conversation.

When you first saw the space, what ideas sprang to mind? And which early ideas did you put aside for later/never?
When I was acquiring the building, my intention was to use it for multiple artists’ studios and a communal exhibition space.  I quickly realized that I had to come up with a way for the space to make money if I wanted to hold on to it.  That led to the idea of having private events in addition to the art events.  I have ideas for the lower level that I’ve had to put on the back burner.  The lower level has another 7,000 square feet that we could be using.  I’d like to turn the shooting range into a black box theater.

Much-commented upon at the time was that you were working in law enforcement when the gallery began. What did that career do to impact your creative pursuits? And how did leaving that profession change your creative energies?
I was on the job with a lot of guys who seemed completely miserable, and I could see that they regretting not having something else they could do when they left law enforcement.  I decided that, before it was too late, I would actively pursue something I loved.  First, I went back to school to get my BFA.  Then, the week I graduated, I closed on the building.  Leaving the police department has given my creative pursuits more freedom.  I’m no longer under the scrutiny of the police department.

The gallery’s gone through a series of changes and renovations, but you’ve kept the inherent feel of the space intact. How hard has that been to do? In effect, how do you modernize without losing character?
It’s been difficult because I am working within the constraints of an old piece of architecture that was built for a specific purpose.  Originally, there was one telephone in the building, at the sergeant’s desk.  The police drilled holes in the floor at some point to add more lines, and I’ve tried to use those existing holes for cable and internet.  Every time you drill a hole around here, you’ve got to go through three inches of terazzo and six inches of reinforced concrete.  There was no air conditioning when I bought the building, so we put that up on the roof and ran spiral metal duct work throughout the building.  My goal has always been to renovate in such a way that we could dismantle everything and leave the building just as we found it.  That hasn’t always been possible.  Fire codes forced me to cut additional doors into the squad car garage that weren’t originally there.  We cut the new doors where windows had been.

The roof is the one area most fans of the space haven’t seen. Is there any long-range plan for it? Organic garden? Helicopter pad? Gun range?
My plans for the roof are to add a second level to the building.  I’ve met with the architect and engineer along with St. Louis City Cultural Resources, and it’s doable.

You have some amazing collections of… things. What are some of your favorite things?
I have a tray of glass eyes, and those are pretty amazing.  Each one is hand painted.  I have a drawer of dentures, uppers and lowers. I worked with a guy who had a part time job as a mortuary assistant.  He was the guy who would drive to pick up the bodies and take them to the funeral home.  This guy would always bring me the dentures.  This Christmas, a friend gave me a prosthetic leg, complete with a shoe and sock.  Probably the collection I’m most excited about is the mug shot collection I have.  The detectives left behind several binders of mug shots when they moved.  They were all taken in the 1970′s.  It’s marvelous collection of shitheads, southsiders, and other disenfranchised individuals.

How many hours a week do you dedicate to pursuits like painting, or pure creation of your own art?
Not nearly enough.

What’s one project that you’d like to undertake as an artist? And as a gallery curator?
As an artist, I’d like to do more work with sculpture.  Right now I’m planning a seris of large scale paintings and installations that address stupidity in an age when information is so readily available.  (Does that sound dumb?)  As a gallery curator, I’d like to see more installations.

Most unlikely success in the space has been…?
I’m really pleased that so many different types of people feel comfortable in the space.

This coming weekend celebrates nine years in operation. Assuming a 10th, what’s in-store for that party?
I’ve got quite the blow out in mind, but you’ll have to wait until next year for the details.

EDITOR’S NOTES: Wanna know what Ron was saying a year into the MAG story? Read this interview with Andrea Avery at thecommonspace.org.

Again, for more info on this weekend’s event, please click on the Mad Art site.