Local business prides itself on the freedom it gives its artists

By Stephen Montoya

CORRALES – Most locally run businesses will attribute any success they receive to following a series of rules and guidelines.

However, there is one business in the heart of the Village of Corrales that prides itself on not following any rules whatsoever.  

The Village Print Shop, located at 4605 Corrales Road has been dancing to the beat of their own drum for nearly four years, according to co-owner Curtis Osborne.

“When we first came into this space it was a complete mess,” Osborne explained. “We painted every wall, every ceiling, inside-outside. We built a fence and did all of the landscaping. It has been quite the process to get the business to where it is now.”

Currently, this 8,000 square foot building hosts an open floor plan that allows for huge art installments and plenty of wall space for local artists to hang their work for patrons to enjoy and possibly purchases.

“Art wasn’t our main focus when opening this space,” Osborne said. “We are the Village Printshop, so the business aspect of things like printing T-shirts, stickers, banners, and business cards was the main focus of our plan.”

When referring to “we” Osborne explained that he and his partner, co-owner Thierry Gonzales, wanted to create a business that allowed its clients to think outside of the box for their printing needs.

“We just happened to have plenty of wall space here,” Osborne said. “So we thought, ‘let’s use this space and make it an art gallery and host some parties.’”

Osborne, who is also an artist, said he uses the wall space to showcase his artwork as well.

“When I work on my projects I try to get as far away from the printing aspect of things, as I can get,” he said with a smile. “When I do my projects, there are no rules, I can do whatever I want.”

Upon entering the Village Printshop’s front room, it becomes very apparent that this business is unique at first sight.

“This place was a yoga studio, a restaurant, all kinds of things throughout the years,” Osborne said.

Osborne and Gonzales took full advantage of the adjacent rooms and spaces the building had to offer by making each section its own themed area.

For example, the room immediately to the right of the entrance is used for music. A full drum kit, a piano, and a stack of vinyl reside in this space as a way of evoking the muse.

The middle room, which is the largest room in the building, is currently the staging area for several giant fire ant structures and a nearly 6-foot tall blue yeti.

“This is the space where we host our big art shows and open houses,” Osborne said. “It’s also the only space where we have a good heater.”

According to Osborne, this structure was originally built in the 1950s as a dance hall for the Village of Corrales.

Past the middle room towards the back of the building are three more rooms that work as two printing areas and one art installment that utilizes mirrors to create an optical illusion of an infinity hallway.

“When we first got to this building, the old yoga class that was here, left behind these huge mirrors, and we thought, ‘Score,’” he explained. “So we used them for several projects like the back area where the infinity hallway is and on our old ice cream truck.”

Osborne said, he and his business partner bought an old ice cream truck for $500 and spent the best part of 2021 sanding it down and repainting it.

“We placed one of the old mirrors in it and added a flame thrower out of the top that shoots flames,” he said. “We have to tell the fire department when we are going to use it because they will get calls from the locals if we don’t.”

Just next door north of the main building where the Village Printshop works out of is the old sheriff’s station that is also being rented by Osborne and his partner to display more artwork.

This small adobe structure consists of two rooms, one with a ping pong table and art on one side and another with several large art pieces on display on the other side.

“People were squatting here before we took it over, so we had our work cut out for us to remodel the building and retrofit it, make it what is now,” Osborne said. “This is where we house the more permanent artist’s work.”

Osborne explained, there are no rules for an artist to display their work at the Village Printshop.

“We display whatever an artist gives us,” he said. “Whether it be a painting or a photo, or even several large fire ants.”

For more information on the Village Printshop go to: http://www.thevillageprintshop.com/The_village_printshop/shop/home