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COMMUNITY More than just ink Sculptor Writer
Tattoo artist Painter
Target shooter
Collector
PROGRESS
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Tim Engstrom, Kathy Johnson
Albert Lea resident and business owner Gilbert Johnson, unlike the Hindu god Vishnu, doesn’t really have more than two arms. But if he did, he could keep up with his multiple talents better.
Most people know Gilbert Johnson as a tattoo artist, but that is just one of many skills By Tim Engstrom
Tim Engstrom
Ted (foreground) and Millie are two of three macaws who make their home in a bird room at The Chapel, a downtown Albert Lea tattooand-piercings parlor.
Walls at The Chapel are decorated with collectibles. One room is adorned with comic books and a mural Gilbert Johnson painted of one edition of the comic series “The Vault of Horror” published in the early 1950s. dorsement of his quality, safety has Max on his shoulder. Yes, and sanitariness. just like a pirate. Johnson grew up in Albert Lea. • It’s earned respect considHe is the son of Gilbert and Mary ering it is a tattoo place. Nine tattoo shops have come and gone Johnson and has a sister named during the decade or so The Cha- Heidi. He recalled moving 18 times as a child, to different pel has been open. Johnson said that when suspicious behavior is places in town. Back then, kids reported at other tattoo shops, it couldn’t stay at the same school, so he would lose school friends harms the reputation he values. and end up with time alone. So He has to fend off questions he drew. about whether it happened at He doesn’t lament the his place, which, of course, it did childhood. not. He also said he has given “If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t tattoos to police and medical have this,” Johnson said. staff, which he sees as an en-
A PUBLICATION OF THE ALBERT LEA TRIBUNE • FEBRUARY 2013
Some artists specialize. Albert Lea artist Gilbert Johnson Jr. diversifies. He is known in the area for his skills as a tattoo artist. But he possesses other skills: the arts of painting, sculpting and writing and the sport of target shooting. It’s hard to classify collecting as an art or sport, but it definitely requires skill. And he is a businessman. He owns The Chapel tattoo parlor, which holds a few distinctions among Albert Lea’s downtown merchants: • It doesn’t keep regular set hours. Johnson said he has enough demand for his tattoo skills that he works by appointment only. It’s only open when he is there. He said he does 5,000 to 7,000 tattoos a year. • It’s probably the most successful business in Albert Lea where the only customer entrance is the back door. It might even be the only business establishment where customers cannot enter a front door. The business is at 115 S. Broadway. He used to rent out the front of the building, so the back became the entrance for The Chapel. The front is no longer rented, but the back remains the entryway. Now and then, people will tug at the front door, scratch their heads, then read the sign telling them to go around back. • It’s no doubt the most creative business space. The walls are adorned with his paintings and his collections. He has in-the-package action figures ranging from “Planet of the Apes” to “Star Wars” to “Spawn.” There is a massive collection of toy hippos, whether plush toys or plastic figurines. There is a gun collection kept under lock and key. There is a pool table primarily used as a place to set items down. There are arcade games. There are remote-control toys, and the front room presently is being used to build a go-kart. • It is the only business with a bird room. He has three macaws — Max, Ted and Millie — who dwell in the bird room. If people spot Johnson in public, he often
Around the age of 18 he spent much of a summer at a tattoo shop in Albert Lea wanting to learn the trade. He finally convinced the artist to take him as an apprentice. But then he left for the University of Minnesota and put his new skill on the back burner. He wanted to become an architect. He discovered the U of M was not on track to become computerized and that the architecture he was paying for would be obsolete when he hit the job market. He changed majors. He was going to be a wildlife artist and majored in studio arts. He was told that wildlife painters were considered “illustrators” and not artists. He realized he didn’t need a degree to make art. Johnson finished at the University of Minnesota with a degree in cultural studies. His degree has an emphasis in women’s studies, which furthered his writing skills. He has had a book of poetry published. It is called “Making Tracks: Hearing Voices and Finding My Way.” He spent time in the Twin Cities painting murals for companies, doing an occasional tattoo on some odd jobs and became certified to teach. He returned to Albert Lea at the age of 26 to teach at the high school. He taught forensic biology for about four years but the program was dropped in a round of school district cuts in the early 2000s. So he bought the building at 115 S. Broadway and opened a coffee shop. It was called Gossip Coffee Shop. It didn’t last long. “I wanted to hang out in my coffee shop, but I didn’t want to work there,” Johnson said. He decided he would put his tattoo artistry to use and open a tattoo shop. He wanted a name that wouldn’t be intimidating — because many tattoo shops have scary names like “Satan’s Den.” One coffee shop customer suggested The Chapel, and it stuck. “The only place to decorate your temple” remains the slogan. In fact, Johnson is certified by Freeborn County to marry people, which he does when people request. He said it is only 4P. 2