In preparation for Dane Arts Buy Local (DABL) last month, I made these portable walls after searching online for days yet not finding anything that suits my need and budget. Although the wall itself wouldn’t be one of Snowforest’s products, as a startup, I thought, something gotta be made in a basement or in a garage, or better yet, in both!
Portable Walls
At first, I was thinking using 2x4s, but that would be too heavy to be portable and may require a lot of woodwork. Then I realized I could use slab doors! They are not too heavy yet strong enough to hold my artwork. At DABL, my booth’s dimensions are 8 feet by 6 feet. So I got 6 slab doors, each of 3 feet wide, plus one of 2 feet wide. The doors were connected by metal connectors. I used insert nuts so that the connectors can be screwed and unscrewed easily and repeatedly without damaging the doors. I applied a coat of primer and then a coat of white acrylic satin enamel paint.
The hanging system was from STAS. I chose them because of their integrated lighting system, which I think is a great design and looks really nice. The arm of the light fixture, however, wasn’t designed to be used the way I had to use them as the slab doors are not as high as most gallery walls. So I had to bend the arms upwards to make the lights higher. Fortunately, I didn’t break them.
The idea was inspired by Pareti Mobile Walls. It took me about a week to build the walls. The overall installation time is approximately 30-40 minutes. The walls are now standing in my basement, serving as a small studio space. You might see it again in my future videos.