progress 2013 community
DESCRIPTION
Community stories from Progress 2013TRANSCRIPT
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COMMUNITYMore than just ink
By Tim Engstrom
Some artists specialize. Albert Lea artist Gilbert Johnson Jr. diversifies.
He is known in the area for his skills as a tattoo artist. But he possesses other skills: the arts of painting, sculpting and writing and the sport of target shooting. It’s hard to classify collecting as an art or sport, but it definitely requires skill.
And he is a businessman. He owns The Chapel tattoo parlor, which holds a few distinctions among Albert Lea’s downtown merchants:
• It doesn’t keep regular set hours. Johnson said he has enough demand for his tattoo skills that he works by appoint-ment only. It’s only open when he is there. He said he does 5,000 to 7,000 tattoos a year.
• It’s probably the most successful business in Albert Lea where the only customer entrance is the back door. It might even be the only business establishment where customers cannot enter a front door. The business is at 115 S. Broadway. He used to rent out the front of the building, so the back became the entrance for The Chapel. The front is no longer rented, but the back remains the entryway. Now and then, people will tug at the front door, scratch their heads, then read the sign telling them to go around back.
• It’s no doubt the most cre-ative business space. The walls are adorned with his paintings and his collections. He has in-the-package action figures ranging from “Planet of the Apes” to “Star Wars” to “Spawn.” There is a massive collection of toy hippos, whether plush toys or plastic figurines. There is a gun collection kept under lock and key. There is a pool table primar-ily used as a place to set items down. There are arcade games. There are remote-control toys, and the front room presently is being used to build a go-kart.
• It is the only business with a bird room. He has three macaws — Max, Ted and Millie — who dwell in the bird room. If people spot Johnson in public, he often
has Max on his shoulder. Yes, just like a pirate.
• It’s earned respect consid-ering it is a tattoo place. Nine tattoo shops have come and gone during the decade or so The Cha-pel has been open. Johnson said that when suspicious behavior is reported at other tattoo shops, it harms the reputation he values. He has to fend off questions about whether it happened at his place, which, of course, it did not. He also said he has given tattoos to police and medical staff, which he sees as an en-
dorsement of his quality, safety and sanitariness.
Johnson grew up in Albert Lea. He is the son of Gilbert and Mary Johnson and has a sister named Heidi. He recalled moving 18 times as a child, to different places in town. Back then, kids couldn’t stay at the same school, so he would lose school friends and end up with time alone. So he drew.
He doesn’t lament the childhood.
“If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have this,” Johnson said.
Around the age of 18 he spent much of a summer at a tattoo shop in Albert Lea wanting to learn the trade. He finally con-vinced the artist to take him as an apprentice.
But then he left for the Uni-versity of Minnesota and put his new skill on the back burner. He wanted to become an architect. He discovered the U of M was not on track to become comput-erized and that the architecture he was paying for would be obso-lete when he hit the job market.
He changed majors. He was going to be a wildlife artist and majored in studio arts. He was told that wildlife painters were considered “illustrators” and not artists. He realized he didn’t need a degree to make art.
Johnson finished at the University of Minnesota with a degree in cultural studies. His degree has an emphasis in wom-en’s studies, which furthered his writing skills. He has had a book of poetry published. It is called “Making Tracks: Hearing Voices and Finding My Way.”
He spent time in the Twin Cit-ies painting murals for compa-nies, doing an occasional tattoo on some odd jobs and became certified to teach.
He returned to Albert Lea at the age of 26 to teach at the high school. He taught forensic biol-ogy for about four years but the program was dropped in a round of school district cuts in the early 2000s.
So he bought the building at 115 S. Broadway and opened a coffee shop. It was called Gossip Coffee Shop. It didn’t last long.
“I wanted to hang out in my coffee shop, but I didn’t want to work there,” Johnson said.
He decided he would put his tattoo artistry to use and open a tattoo shop. He wanted a name that wouldn’t be intimidating — because many tattoo shops have scary names like “Satan’s Den.” One coffee shop customer sug-gested The Chapel, and it stuck. “The only place to decorate your temple” remains the slogan.
In fact, Johnson is certified by Freeborn County to marry peo-ple, which he does when people request. He said it is only 4P. 2
Most people know Gilbert Johnson as a tattoo artist, but that is just one of many skills
Tim EngstromTed (foreground) and Millie are two of three macaws who make their home in a bird room at The Chapel, a downtown Albert Lea tattoo-and-piercings parlor.
Walls at The Chapel are decorated with collectibles. One room is adorned with comic books and a mural Gilbert Johnson painted of one edition of the comic series “The Vault of Horror” published in the early 1950s.
Collector
Painter
Sculptor
Writer
Tattoo artist
Target shooter
Tim Engstrom, Kathy JohnsonAlbert Lea resident and business owner Gilbert Johnson, unlike the Hindu god Vishnu, doesn’t really have more than two arms. But if he did, he could keep up with his multiple talents better.
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Page 2 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
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Tattoo parlor owner places customer service as top priorityfitting, considering the business name.
“Anymore, Gilbert and Chapel are synonymous. I go by both names,” he said.
And he paints. There is a huge mural on one wall of his tattoo shop of a comic book, “The Vault of Horror.” There wasn’t space to trace a projected image, so he drew the outline by hand.
For his canvas paintings, he only uses five colors: red, yellow, blue, white and black. Red, yellow and blue are primary colors, and if he needs to make other colors, he blends them on the canvas, not on the palette.
Johnson said he has been able to maintain the reputation of the tattoo shop with the following principles:
• Be patient, show respect and listen to people, whether they are getting a five-minute tattoo or a five-hour tattoo.
• Treat it as a business, be punctual, follow regulations to the tee, give pay-ing customers what they expect and deserve.
• Show a willingness to fix problem tattoos people get from other artists.
• Acknowledge that tattoos are pain-ful, explain what customers need to know before and after the ink is done, make the experience outside the pain itself as joyful as possible.
Johnson never advertises and said he gets business sheerly by word of mouth.
So what’s up with his crazy-looking shop — the birds, the guns, the collect-ibles and so forth?
“The shop is kind of consistent with
who I am,” Johnson said. “I am kind of a kid at heart, and the shop reflects the positive addictions I have worked through in my life.”
In-the-box action figures from the original “Star Wars” movies can command a pretty penny in online auctions. Boba Fett is one of many col-lectibles that decorate the walls.
Continued from Page 1
Tim EngstromThe unassuming entrance to The Chapel is the back door. Gilbert Johnson’s business offers tattoos and piercings.
PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 3
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Youth director
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Page 4 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
Progress 2012 SB
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What’s new in the Albert Lea parks?Draw a line from the park name to the new itemHint: Some parks have more than one.
Edgewater Park
Morin Park
Shoreland Heights ParkBancroft Bay Park
Pioneer ParkLakeview Park
Oakwood Park
Frank Hall Park
By Tim Engstrom
PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 5
220 ElizabEth avE, • albErt lEa, mn
373-2828Answers are on Page 8
Page 6 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
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(Google Earth edition)PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 7
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ITC Midwest is pleased to contribute to the progress of the Albert Lea businesscommunity. From our warehouse and office facility on Highway 46, our 25 employees andcontractors are working to improve electric reliability. We’re also connecting the cleanwind energy developments under construction in Minnesota and Iowa, facilitatingrenewable energy connections and their economic benefits for our region.
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Match each letter to a place:___ Albert Lea High School___ Albert Lea Seed House___ Albert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant___ Brookside Education Center, Albert Lea___ Clarks Grove Baptist Church___ Dras Cases, Lake Mills___ Ellendale downtown___ Freeborn County Courthouse___ Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services
___ Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea___ Innovance (Lou-Rich), Albert Lea___ Larson Doors & Windows, Albert Lea___ Mayo Clinic Health System of Albert Lea___ Northbridge Mall, Albert Lea___ Poet Biorefining Glenville___ St. John’s Lutheran Home, Albert Lea___ Streater, Albert Lea___ United South Central School, Wells___ Worth County Fairgrounds, Northwood
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SDo you recognize these places?
Answers are on Page 8
By Tim Engstrom
Page 8 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
Member FDIC
L to R: Kathy Jo, Darlane, Paul, Darcy, Julie
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Albert Lea High School: MAlbert Lea Seed House: LAlbert Lea Wastewater Treatment Plant: EBrookside Education Center: OClarks Grove Baptist Church: JDras Cases: IEllendale downtown: GFreeborn County Courthouse: RFreeborn-Mower Cooperative Services: CGood Samaritan Society of Albert Lea: F
Innovance (Lou-Rich): HLarson Doors & Windows: BMayo Clinic Health System of Albert Lea: KNorthbridge Mall: QPoet Biorefining Glenville: NSt. John’s Lutheran Home: AStreater : DUnited South Central: PWorth County Fairgrounds: S
Answers to parks quiz:
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PROGRESS 2013 • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • Albert Lea Tribune • Page 9
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S P E C I A L O F F E R
Familiar faces
Tim EngstromPaula Nuessmeier stands by a U.S. flag at the American Legion Club, shortly before a Noon Kiwanis Club meeting. She is a district director with the Twin Valley Council Boy Scouts.
Brandi HagenJason Howland sits in his boat that he has prepared for a fishing trip. How-land will compete in the All-American tournament in Tennessee in June.
Sarah StultzFormer Southwest Middle School counselor Jim Munyer stands in the hallway of the school. His last day was June 26 after 43 years with the Albert Lea School District.
Sarah StultzEvery year in June Albert Lean Dave Mullenbach begins growing out his beard in preparation for the Christ-mas season.
Portraits of you taken by the Tribune staff
Nicole Larson, a 2007 graduate of Albert Lea High School, holds up one of her de-signs, a Victorian dress she created last winter while in fashion school at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul.Brandi Hagen
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Page 10 • Albert Lea Tribune • Sunday, February 24, 2013 • PROGRESS 2013
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1410 W. 9th St., Albert Lea, MN 56007507-373-1401 • Fax: 507-373-8166 • 877-679-9663
Visit us at www.alamcowood.com
A BigThank You to our employees!
Shoff Park
Boekelman Ron 31Forman John 31Sipple Alan 31Forman Robert 30Lau Dennis 30Plantage Edwin Jr. 30Hertges Gene 30Schewe Gaylen 30Plantage James 30Malepsy Timothy 29Talamantes David 29Christenson Daniel 29Holst Donald 29Dempewolf Sharon 29Mehus Douglas 29Beckius Lonny 29Nelson Clint 29Forman Joseph 27Amundson Alan 27Paulson Randal 27Stockwell Roy 25Belshan Bart 24Olson Paul 23Lau Chad 20Reynolds Scott 19Viktora Gary 19Davies Douglas 19Moffitt Adam 20Hoyne Clark 21Davis Kevin 17Register Kenn 16Vanek Lane 16Emery Greg 16Hardies John 16Mehus James 13Ravlin Vaughn 13Goskeson Judd 13Belshan Ronald 12Rebelein Cathy 12
Zuno Luciano 12Lopez Juan 12Faugstad James 12Castro Evaristo 11Ellingson Josh 11Davis Ronny 9Newman Adam 9Kauffmann Martin 9Sorenson Keith 9Register Trevor 8Talamantes Willie 8Miranda Christopher 8Rosas Juan 8Hagen Tina 7Johnson Thomas 7Dempewolf Broc 7Huffstutter David 6Hensche Michael 6Engelby Darwin 6Holan Gary 6Birch Kevin 6Beiser Donald 5Barnett Ramon 5DeLaFosse Lucas 3Tuttle Taylor 3Amundson Alex 3Arnold Casey 3Kalvig Tanner 3Johnson Terry 3Amanson Corey 3Carlson David 3Madson John 3Price Michael 3Gullickson Dustin 3Duncan Keith 2Perkins Austin 2DeLos Santos John 2Hill Shane 2Burton Clifford 2
Duncan Justin 2Sexton Melissa 2Hoium Richard 2McCarthy William Jr. 2Silva Debra 2Fjeldberg Jared 2Bryant Jeff 2Price Michael 2Zwart Peter 2Dahl Troy 2Oliver Travis 1Orourke Steven 1Richardson James 1Riedmaier Jeffery 1Severtson Tavis 1Fenney Jeremiah 1Moyer Brian 1Moffitt Travis 1Toledo Daniel 1Bratten Clayton 1Bergland Jed 1Crail Zachariah 1Maier Chad 1Fjeldberg Colby 1Wacholz Matthew 1Hardy Vincent 1Johnson J. Derek 1Strand Josh 1Amundson Aaron 1Belshan Emily 1Minessali John
Started in JanuaryBeighley Samuel Started in JanuaryBerg Trevor
Started in January
Albert Lea High SchoolAlbert Lea Park Shelter
Started in 1938
RILCO - Rock Island Lumber Company
+ Weyco+ ALAMCO Inc.+ ALAMCO LLC
= 75 Year Combined
* Years of service based on Alamco Inc. & Alamco LLC.