Entering The Agency is like stepping into a piece of modern art.
Blue and gray spirals decorate the resin floor, and elaborate paintings line the red brick walls.
"You kind of forget you are in Albuquerque when you see this wall," owner Jason Wolf said. "It's like something you would see in the warehouse district of San Francisco."
The Agency, an art gallery and all-ages music venue at 111 Fourth St. S.W., is closing one year after it opened.
There's a farewell party at 6 p.m. on Saturday. It will feature the bands Agency E and IRS Glitch and DJs Brian Botkiller and Justin George. While the bands set up, there's a playlist with songs recorded from past shows at the venue. Food and beverages will be provided at the free event.
"There are going to be a bunch of musicians here," Wolf said. "It might be kind of unpredictable what's going to happen."
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Agency member Brandon Atencio said it's time to move on after a good year.
"We're not getting shut down," Wolf said. "It's not a failure at all. It's an absolute success."
He said it was "a labor of love" and had no payroll system. The duo booked artists, recorded live shows and maintained the building. It took three hours to mop the floors alone, Wolf said.
"I actually had to pay to work here once," Atencio said.
They originally rented the space to practice with their band, Agency E, named after the studio.
"It was originally a production studio, but we always kept the arts and music performances, that kind of stuff, in mind," Wolf said. "We realized that, as an all-ages venue, we could take care of the rent and put on some really cool shows and give the all-ages crowd something to come see Downtown.. We just took it to that level and really embraced the quality of the show. We wanted to put on something top-notch."
After Saturday, the duo will have more time to pursue their artistic goals.
"Making our own art had to take a backseat sometimes," Atencio said.
He will attend UNM for painting classes, and Wolf will do sound design for the independent film "Lady Fingers." The two will work on releasing a CD and performing around town.
"We also want to keep the momentum of our recording and prompting, so we are going to do a tour of all the other new galleries that have opened," Wolf said.
The studio has hosted and
recorded more than 70 live shows, a number of burlesque and variety shows, and Albuquerque's first simulvision, performed by Agency E.
"A simulvision is where you take two movies and project them side by side, and a band is performing in real time to one of the movies," Wolf said.
The Agency hosted parties Downtown but managed to stay out of trouble.
"There's some kind of war being waged on all-age venues, and we pretty much avoided that," Atencio said.
The Agency farewell party
111 Fourth Street S.W.
Saturday, 6 p.m.
Free
