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First opened in 1970, Studio 9 was a two-floor building that hung art upstairs and provided haircuts downstairs. Now that it has been restored and re-opened under the new name indi go, studio owner James Barham said he really wants to make this gallery a part of the community. “The idea is to provide an art co-op for multimedia art, a place for new and upcoming artists to showcase their stuff,” he said. Opened in conjunction with the Boneyard Arts Festival this year, indi go is hosting art by Ryan McClure and Tyler Bergfield.

Dreams being his focal influence, Bergfield said his art tries to capture the sense of the subconscious and reflect the sublime. “Nostalgia,” he said, “is like the memory of Romanticism.” Though inspired by artists Inka Essenhigh and Ross Bleckner, who are known for representing the dark and bizarre, grief and memory in their work, Bergfield said he’s pushing for color these days. “I want to represent everyday life,” he said. “The disgusting as beautiful.”

His art has graced the walls of the Illini Union Art Gallery, Cafe Kopi, Aroma Cafe, Krannert Art Museum and Radio Maria.

Already friends, McClure and Bergfield were introduced to Barham by their mutual acquaintance, Ryan Groff, the lead signer of the local rock band Elsinore. “We are inspired by the same music, same books,” Bergfield said. “We are definitely a tight-knit group.”

Ryan McClure graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a B.A. in 3-D studio art with a concentration in ceramics. Inspired by dreams, love, shadow, heartbreak, music, nature, trees, insects, flowers and several people and other facets of life, McClure wrote that he can’t quite say who or what influences him.

His pieces are small-scale paintings that make use of color fields, color theory and elements of design that spatially challenge foreground and background. “Depictions of nature, mostly trees, are a huge influence on my work,” McClure wrote. “The trees represent the idea of how everything is on the brink of life and death — the fragility of nature and humans. We are stuck in the paradox of living to die and dying to live.”

McClure’s work was shown at the Kent State 10th Annual National Juried Cup Show and locally at Aroma Cafe.

In addition to art, indi go will feature music by classically trained guitarist Rachel Schiff. She will be performing works that will be featured at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena, Italy, in late July. Each performance will be approximately 30 to 40 minutes in length. This show will run July 2 and 3 at 7 and 9 p.m.