When barber Daniel Valenzuela opened Jireh Collective in downtown Tucson four months ago, he saw the space as an experiment.
The combination barber shop and art gallery, at ., is Valenzuela’s way of providing a space for artists and creatives in Tucson.
“I wanted to merge the art gallery and barbershop together because I wanted to offer local artists an opportunity to expose their collections,” Valenzuela said. “The barber shop was just a different way of exposing the artist's collection to the demographic that I was already serving.”
Danny Valenzuela works on the hair of Zeus Neveleff in Jireh Collective.
A visitor's first impression of Valenzuela’s shop is that it would not be out of place in the urban centers of Los Angeles or New York. The space is bright and modern, with a plush seating area separating the gallery from the four barber seats at the back of the room.
So far, Valenzuela has hosted two artists' exhibitions, and said he hopes to feature five or six artists a year. He said artists are given total artistic freedom in their concept and how they fill the space.
“I don't charge the artist commission or anything. Right now, it's totally free,” Valenzuela said. “On the clientele side, it's pretty cool for them. They get free art shows essentially.”
Danny Valenzuela cuts the hair of regular Gerardo Robles. On the nearby gallery wall is a tufted yarn and fabric piece named Virgen de Guadalupe.
One of the benefits of bringing in new art, he said, is that it gives the space a fresh, new feel for clients each time they return.
“You never know what you're gonna walk into,” Valenzuela said. “Every four to six weeks, they kind of step in here and they're like, ‘oh, there's something else on the wall now.’ I just thought it'd be a cool idea.”
Since Jireh Collective opened, Valenzuela said the unusual concept has captured a lot of attention.
“We have young people coming in, middle aged, older people coming in,” he said. “It really attracts everybody. It's pretty cool.”
Current show: Bright, bold rugs
Local tattoo artist Alejandro Laureano is the most recent artist to take over the Jireh Collective gallery, with his bright, bold rug works currently on display in the space.
Artist Alejandro Laureano pictured with one of his rug textile pieces, which are currently displayed at Jireh Collective.
Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Laureano moved to Tucson in 2010 to study illustration in college, but eventually found his calling as a tattoo artist. After some time away, Laureano moved back to Tucson last November, and is now working at Tattoo Artistry.
But Laureano doesn’t just specialize in tattoos; he creates his art in many different mediums, including ceramics, glass engraving, and rug textiles.
“I like trying new stuff,” Laureano said. “With tattooing, I kind of got introduced to a lot of different types of art and different people.”
The rugs were a creative outlet he found during the height of the COVID pandemic, and he taught himself the skill through online videos.
“I just found it on YouTube, and I ordered the stuff through the internet, and that's how I kept my sanity while I couldn't really tattoo or see my friends,” Laureano said.
Artist Alejandro Laureano poses in front of his works in progress. He's currently displaying at Jireh Collective.
His rug artwork takes clear inspiration from American traditional tattoo style, with bold colors and high contrast designs.
“When I started tattooing, I was doing a lot of American traditional tattoos, which are very blocky colors, bold lines and very limited color palettes, just red, green, yellow, and that's pretty much it. They're pretty simple designs, not very complex."
"And then my style of tattooing started evolving into more of an illustrative version of that, with a lot of pastel colors and more fluidity to the designs. So they're way more complex than American traditional, but I still love this style. So when I do my rugs and my ceramics and all the other stuff, I dial it back to the traditional influence,” Laureano said. “It's a style that I think is beautiful.”
Each piece takes Laureano many hours and lots of patience to complete.
“A rug that is 20 by 25 (inches) or something like that, it takes me like 12 to 15 hours,” Laureano said.
That doesn’t count the time needed for the various adhesives to dry. The total time, Laureano said, is usually around a week and a half per piece.
While this is not Laureano’s first art exhibition, he said he was grateful for all the support he’s received from the Tucson community and that he enjoyed seeing the collection come together.
“It's a really nice feeling, being able to see all of the pieces together,” he said. “It was kind of nerve wracking, because, as I said, I just moved back to Tucson last year, so I was kind of nervous — not that it wasn't going to be received well — but that not a lot of people were going to be able to see it, just because of how new I am to the city, after being gone for 12 to 13 years. So it was just really nice seeing that a lot of people showed up to the opening we had."
Barber Nate Garcia works on his side gig, music for his DJ'ing, beside one of the displays while waiting for customers in Jireh Collective, the barbershop and art gallery at 143 N. Stone Ave.
After this week, another artist, will be taking over the gallery, but Laureano said he hopes to show more of his work in the space in the future.
“I really like the way everything worked out,” he said. “So I think I'm gonna try and get another space to show some pieces.”
Expressing 'themselves and their art'
This new venture has been a long time coming for Valenzuela, who began his path to barbering in his senior year of high school, 15 years ago.
“I wanted to get haircuts frequently, and my mom wasn't going to pay for that, so I asked for a pair of clippers, started doing it on myself,” he said. “It raised some questions of who was cutting my hair at school, and a couple buddies came over and it just took off from there.”
Valenzuela started cutting hair in his mom's living room, decided to go to barber school after graduation, and has been making a career of it ever since.
Right now, Valenzuela is one of three barbers working at Jireh Collective, but he hopes the venture will continue to grow.
“It's still pretty small,” he said. “Three barbers for now, trying to figure out what to do with that last open chair.”
Ares Neveleff gets his turn in the chair with barber Danny Valenzuela in Jireh Collective.
Aside from exhibits and art openings, Valenzuela said they also plan to host DJ’d events, featuring one of the shop’s barbers, Nate Garcia, also known as DJ Revolu.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Valenzuela said. “Just kind of giving everybody an opportunity to express themselves and their art.”
They are more than prepared to transform the space into a party venue. Valenzuela said each of the barber stations can be removed, opening up the room entirely.
Nate Garcia trims up Ben Andersen at Jireh Collective.
As for the future of Jireh Collective, Valenzuela said he would like to continue to promote local artists, but also hopes to expand his reach.
“I think it would be cool to get an artist from a different region or state. I don't know how that would work, but I'm sure I can make it happen,” he said. “I want to be that venue or place where people can come in and say ‘I have this idea.’”