A visit to Noah Davis’ The Underground Museum in Mid-City Los Angeles motivated Chandler Watson to create something similar in Oklahoma City. The art house in Mid-City was a combination bookstore, art gallery and sculpture park with movie screenings and community events. The location was called “The Underground Museum.”
“He was bringing world-class art to the hood, essentially, and that inspired me,” Watson said. “I wanna open up something like that.”
Watson’s time in Los Angeles made him reevaluate the Oklahoma art scene and see it from an outsider’s perspective.
“When I was out in LA, they were like, ‘We would never expect somebody like you to be from Oklahoma,’” he said. “So now you have to change other people’s perspective of what this place is.”
Rainbow connection
Watson said his ultimate motivation for Art House on 4th, 829 NW Fourth St., is late Black Panther activist Fred Hampton.
“When I leave, you’ll remember I said, with the last words on my lips, that I am a revolutionary.” Hampton said. “And you’re going to have to keep on saying that.”
“Fred Hampton, in his book, says, I’m paraphrasing, but he said, ‘If you ever mention my name,you better be a revolutionary,’ essentially,” Watson said. ”So whenever I say his name, it’s like, nope, well, I have to do more.”
Watson was further inspired by Hampton’s Rainbow Coalition, the multicultural working-class anti-racist movement aimed to reach people of all backgrounds with common struggles.
“He went from hood to hood. It didn’t matter what color, what background they were,” Watson said. “He’s like, ‘Oh, you’re poor, you’re poor, you’re poor, you’re poor, you’re all being treated like shit. Let’s come together and let’s start this program.’”
Watson feels the art house will speak for itself and doesn’t need to have his name on the building.
“It’s bigger than me. My name doesn’t have to be associated with this,” he said. “Art House is gonna do its own thing and provide space for artists that are marginalized and overlooked.”
OKC artist Denae Smith also studios at Art House on 4th. Watson and Smith met at the Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition (OVAC) Artist Entrepreneurial Program, and their aligned priorities brought them together and convinced Watson to share the space and burden of running an art house.
“It makes things easier for me,” Watson said. “She’s been a massive help.”
Smith, an OVAC THRIVE Grant recipient, is currently working with Bridge Impact Center and Kidvation Global to offer free art classes to children.
“I’m just grateful that I have a space where she can help young minds grow,” Watson said.
Well-lit
Watson wants to provide a space for artists to work outside the home, noting there are few places in the city to work in a quiet and clean environment.
“Everything’s a bar,” Watson said. “I always wanted my own workspace, too, besides just working in my apartment. This could be more than that. It could be community.”
Art House on 4th plans on offering monthly artist memberships that allow access to the studio space and tools.
Bigger plans include adding a food bank and classes on firearm safety and canvas-stretching and a sculpture park. But first things first: an art walk block party.
“When I’m able to, I’ll have a bunch of artists come set up and then have some live music,” Watson said. “There’s just a lot of potential right here.”
Art House on 4th looks to be more than an art gallery.
“It’s a sanctuary for creatives that don’t ever get a chance in the other art pockets in the city,” Watson said. “It’s about unity — sanctuary and unity. That’s it. And don’t cross that line or you get fucked up.”
Visit instagram.com/arthouseon4th.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2025.