Inside Mike’s Art Truck: An inventive way to showcase diverse folk art

Mike’s Art Truck, located in Hillsborough, is a folk art gallery dedicated to showcasing and selling work from artists and bringing vibrant work to a wider audience.

Greg and Karen Mack, the co-founders of Mike’s Art Truck, began exploring folk art when making their first visit with the late Howard Finster, an American artist from Georgia. After taking time to get to know and love many different artists and their work, they decided to find a way to help folk artists sell and show their work and stories. 

To help them achieve this goal, the Macks started their website. Karen was working in a recording studio in Atlanta at the time and the studio manager suggested using folk art to decorate empty space in the studio. this lead to people recording in the studio to buy the artwork.

The Macks started with a few artists but continued to grow. Their gallery now ranges from well-known, old-time folk artists with a lot of recognition to newer artists who have recently decided to create folk art.

Greg said that one of the reasons they started the truck was because there weren't many outlets for the artists they were seeking to highlight.

“[The artists] really became our friends. And that's sort of the community that we were in and working in with all the different artists,” Greg said.

Greg also said that a lot of these artists aren’t creating or selling art to make money, but rather to share with family, friends and others interested. 

After moving to North Carolina in 2012, the Macks found a space at the visitor’s center in Hillsborough for Mike’s Art Truck and began doing shows in various places.

Mike’s Art Truck got its name from their cat Mike, and the concept of an art truck was inspired by one of their bosses who had a paint truck named after their dog, Greg said. 

In terms of sales, it is important to the Macks that the artists they work with keep a large portion of the profit that is made from sales. 

“One of the things we think is good about us is that art is directly from artists,” Karen said. “In the sales and stuff, there's no middle, and here at Mike's Art Truck, we have to promise that the stuff we have came directly from the artist.” 

Karen also said that the best way to help support folk artists is to buy art directly from the creator, as many galleries have other expenses to take care of and cannot afford to give the artists the full profit. 

Although there are multiple definitions of folk art, Greg said that folk art is untaught in traditional institutions and many of these artists don’t go into the trade for the money. 

“Their career goal was to help these untrained artists who really needed the money,” Bob Hart, an artist who has worked alongside the Macks, said. “And they have helped so many artists out there.” 

Hart said that art is something that he enjoys doing. He likes the creativity that it provides him, although, he has never formally had an art career. 

“Everything I paint, I paint smiley and I paint happy,” Hart said in reference to the artwork he has created.

Hart said that he has always been interested in art and came in touch with the Macks around 20 years ago. He was put in contact with them while they were on a trip through Athens, Georgia 

“David Campbell once said that you’re always your happiest when you’re creating, and there's no doubt because, when I create, I'm just very, very happy,” Hart said. 

While Hart had stopped painting for a couple of years, he has recently been sent a couple of pieces and plans to pick up painting again. 

“One thing that we would love to do is find new folk artists that are starting out, or have done things and are looking for an outlet to put it out,” Greg said in concern to their future goals for Mike’s Art Truck.

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