Last weekend (8/10/19) Spray Planet had a chance to step out and party with the folks down at the Montana Shop: Los Angeles for their 1-Year Anniversary! Didn’t get a chance to make it down to the shop for their first anniversary? No worries – we were covering every aspect for this special recap! From photos of the party, to the artwork on display, to insider info on Montana Shop LA and how it came to be located in the Container Yard Anti-Space in the heart of downtown LA’s Arts District – find out all about Montana Store LA and why it’s making such a huge impact!

Montana Colors has long been one of the originators / leaders in  graffiti culture and products since 1994. With 20+ Montana paint shops around the globe, it was only a matter of time before MTN established roots in the mural capital of the world: Los Angeles, California. Established in July 2018 within the Container Yard in the Arts District area, the Montana Shop: Los Angeles has flourished and thrived to heights unimaginable over the course of its first year of existence. As the FIRST EVER flagship store in the entire United States for the MTN brand, the Montana Shop: Los Angeles has brought an entirely different vibe to the downtown LA graffiti and art scene. The hype and demand for Montana Colors in Los Angeles was apparent at their 1-Year Anniversary with standing room only crowds and lines out the door! 

The Container Yard’s Anti-Space

On August 10th, 2019 Montana Shop: Los Angeles celebrated its 1-Year Anniversary in true Montana Colors style with a full-fledged art show take-over of the Container Yard. Although a year may seem menial in terms of graffiti and getting up, the one-year mark, in this case, shows how the  graffiti / street art subculture community and to a much larger extent, society overall has embraced their newest spray paint retailer: Montana Shop: Los Angeles

What better place to hold Montana Shop’s flagship 1-Year anniversary event than at the Container Yard’s Anti-Space. Located in the epicenter of the Arts District, just off Alameda Street on the corner of Fourth Street and Seaton Street, the Container Yard space has been a landmark for years.

Initially an event space, in the last year The Container Yard owners launched a new retail section of its space, dubbing it the Anti-Space. This clean, design-focused space contains a mixture of different shops and services open to the general public. Some of the shops and services operating out of this innovative space to-date include a small coffee shop, a barbershop, a Mixed Martial Arts studio, a small floral nursery, and anchoring it all is the newly celebrated Montana Shop: Los Angeles.

Montana Shop Los Angeles Opening and Reception

Montana Shop: Los Angeles started its Saturday like every other Saturday – selling Montana Spray Paint, Markers, caps and a mess of other graffiti supplies at special 1-day only anniversary discounted prices.  However, when 7pm arrived, the doors shut, the team rebooted and the anniversary event kicked off. Attendees to Montana Shop Los Angeles 1-Year Anniversary were asked to RSVP online in advance for the event, as the max capacity for the Container Yard’s Anti-Space is roughly 400-500 people at a time. An astonishing 1,500+ people RSVP’d to the event with over 300 signing up within the first couple of hours of the Anniversary event flier being published online!

Many times when people are asked to pre-RSVP for an event, you might expect a fraction of those people to actually turn out. That was definitely NOT the case for Montana Shop: Los Angeles. The turn-out for the event was absolutely incredible with almost the entire RSVP list showing up! While putting on an event for 1500+ people would sound overwhelming to most, the Container Yard space accomodated everyone in a smooth and easy fashion. Upon entering the main entrance to the Anti-Space building there was an open bar serving free drinks to guests. As you can imagine, that’s where a majority of the crowd was backed up. Moving past that, the Anti-Space gallery area opened up to display all of the pieces from the artists that participated in the show for the Montana Shop: Los Angeles 1-Year Anniversary event. Towards the end of the evening, there was even a small raffle that took place where 5 prizes containing a mixture of graffiti supplies including spray paint and street markers were given away.

Montana Shop Los Angeles Anniversary Artist Line-Up

The art show for the Montana Shop: Los Angeles 1-Year Anniversary show was curated by Los Angeles native and respected artist/muralist Vyal One. The artist line-up was on point to say the least, with some of the heavy hitters on the bill including artists like Apex, Axis, Cab, Ces, Eskae, Itsaliving, Jase, Madsteez, Mark Bode, Mecro, Royyal Dog, Slick, and of course Vyal himself, along with many other upcoming and influential graffiti and street artists in the scene!

 The concept for the show was giving each participating artist a 2 ft. by 3 ft. wood panel canvas. Once the shop received the completed panels, they were then framed and hung for display for the Anniversary reception. The panels will continue to be displayed for another month at The Container Yard’s Anti-Space so if you didn’t get a chance to make it to Montana Shop: Los Angeles 1-Year Anniversary event there is still a chance for you to check all the artwork!

Montana Shop Los Angeles Lasting Impressions

For all of the work and overwhelming RSVP response, the Montana Shop: Los Angeles 1-Year Anniversary event went off without a hitch. We would qualify the event as a complete success and guarantee it is a new highlight in the books of MTN history. The 1500+ attendee turnout was expected to be overwhelming, but in the end the combination of good vibes, great art, smooth flow in and out and solid coordination by the Container Yard – meant a near-perfect event for all that attended.

If you are in the downtown LA area over the next month, we highly suggest you visit the Container Yard’s Anti-Space to see the artwork in person. Pictures only do so much justice for the artwork. Plus, while you’re there, be sure to pop-in to the Montana Shop: Los Angeles to get a full understanding of why it’s been embraced by the art community far and wide!

The Anti-Space is located within The Container Yard at:
800 E. 4^th Street
Los Angeles, CA.

The Montana Shop: Los Angeles is located at:
400 Seaton Street
Los Angeles, CA.  

If you or anyone you know is interested, pricing and purchase for the artist panels can be found online at: https://thecontaineryard.com/mtn1yr .

Black and White Photographs provided by: Josh @josh.tsm