Bob Koch
Co-owner Samuel D. Johnson inside Dark Star Art Bar a few days before the grand opening.
Dark Star Art Bar co-owner Samuel D. Johnson takes a break from working on getting the venue ready for opening day on June 3, 2023.
A combination music venue and art gallery, Dark Star Art Bar, is opening at 756 E. Washington Ave. A grand opening celebration will take place June 3.
If the concept of a combined gallery and venue on that block of East Washington sounds familiar, you are not imagining things. The spot, home to Star Bar some years back, most recently hosted the venue/gallery Dark Horse Art Bar, which opened in October 2021. By booking bands which might not otherwise play Madison and mixing them with well-chosen locals, Dark Horse quickly built a following with Madison musicians and music fans. But the venue abruptly shut down in November 2022, with owner Patrick DePula citing financial concerns for the closing.
Samuel D. Johnson, a visual artist and co-founder of Firecracker Studios, was the art curator and show booker for Dark Horse. Since that venue closed, he has been keeping an eye out for a spot to start another venue.
"We were looking for a new space; something that was similar to what we were doing before — gallery, bar, live music. We looked at a small music venue downtown that looked good, but didn't work out. This space came up for rent again and we decided to go for it, and do the same thing but slightly improved."
Johnson's co-owner in Dark Star is Josh Swentzel, who also co-owns the Ohio Tavern, Star Liquor and Woody and Anne's.
In recent weeks Johnson and Swentzel have been working on renovations to the space (see the venue's Instagram and Facebook pages for photos). The biggest physical change is moving the orientation of the stage about 180 degrees; instead of facing inward from the front window, the stage is moved to the side of the room, angled between the front window and the bar, and slightly expanded. More robust live sound equipment is also installed and being tweaked ahead of the opening.
The doors open on June 3 at 3 p.m., with art on display from Johnson, David Mueller, Chris Murphy, and others. A concert at 9 p.m. features Canadian rock band Autopilot and Madison bands Heavy Looks and Vacant Church.
A few more shows are already on the books, including a stop by Faun Fables on July 7. Bands and visual artists interested in booking a show can contact Johnson at booking@darkstarart.bar.
