KR: How did your artistic practice and studio space develop?
GONZO247: We are currently sitting inside of the Charles W. Lucky Schoolhouse, and this building 
is super important. I’ll tell you how I found the building first, and then I’ll tell you about the building. 
Back in 1992, my friend and I were driving around this area looking for buildings that we could explore 
artistically to paint. I saw this old dilapidated building and this massive wall. It was like Disneyland for 
graffiti, walls everywhere, with no one here! All of a sudden, we hear some commotion, and there’s a 
lady behind us. 
She said, “What are you doing on my property? I didn’t hire any painters.” 
I responded, “We’re artists.” 
She said, “I don’t see any art supplies.” 
I popped the trunk of my car, and it was all filled with spray cans, “We use spray 
paint to make art!” 
She said, “Well, I’ve never heard of that.”
We explained to her we are artists, and we were looking for a safe place to paint. 
After talking to her for a while, she was like, “Okay, you guys can come back 
anytime you want.”
This back wall became one of Houston’s first legal walls to do graffiti, and we’ve been painting on and 
off this wall since. On top of that, she and I became really good friends, and she became my art mom. 
In a sense, she gave me a place where I could exist and my first studio space. She allowed me to paint, 
and later we started Aerosol Warfare, which is Houston’s first graffiti and street art gallery space.
I have a lot of history with this building, and this was the Charles W. Lucky Schoolhouse. This building 
was originally built in 1909, burned down in 1917, and was rebuilt in 1918. This was the only African 
American elementary school at the time, and this was the first elementary school in this area that was 
named after a prominent African American educator. There’s a lot of great cultural history here with 
the building. On top of that, there’s this subculture history with graffiti that runs literally parallel with the 
story of the schoolhouse, because this was something that was unheard of. Fast forward to 2020, and 
Mickey decided to retire and sell the building. My life has had a lot of amazing full circle moments, and 
[buying this building from her] being one of the greatest. What we’re working on is a legacy that is going 
to outlive all of us. We are going to bring the Lucky Schoolhouse back to life, pay honor to the past, and 
have it ready for future generations. 
“What we’re working on 
is a legacy that is going to 
outlive all of us.”
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TRENDS 2026 	
	
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