Gallery 'Scout's Artillery' A Safe Space, But Protective Eyewear Required

Gallery 'Scout's Artillery' A Safe Space, But Protective Eyewear Required

Photo: Scout Tran/Facebook 

Elaine Gavin
Published on May 12, 2017

Scout’s Artillery, a interactive kinetic art gallery in SoMa, is gearing up for a grand opening early next month.

Created by Scout Tran, the space combines a gallery space with a shooting range where guests receive a slingshot and marbles they can use to fire at brightly colored cans, paper targets and glass bottles.

“When I was thinking about starting a slingshot range so that I could practice and have fun with it, I was already thinking how I would frame it in the world of art,” said Tran.

Inside the shooting gallery. | Photo: Elaine Gavin/Hoodline

A soft opening for friends and family was held in March; current visiting hours for the gallery are 6pm to 9pm on Wednesday and 5pm to 8pm on Sunday. “I’ll adapt it to how much traffic I get," Tran said. "I like it being an intimate place,” she added, noting that she's still working out the last of the kinks.

"At the moment, everything is a prototype version, and now I’m starting to work on the final version."

Scout's Artillery also serves as a trans and genderqueer safe space, a response to a perceived rise in physical and verbal aggression against the Bay Area's trans community.

Marble Elevator. | Photo: Scout Tran/Facebook

"I helped found the group The Degenderettes," said Tran. "I thought, 'I could probably use some friends.' A lot of people were looking for mutual protection."

A friend encouraged her and others to learn how to use slingshots. "He taught us how to shoot and made us a bunch of these really cute natural fork slingshots," she said.

Scout Tran began constructing the gallery last July after she took over the former space of The Body Appropriate. Scout's Artillery includes a raked floor where marbles roll into a mechanism that collects them. Guests are provided with slingshots and protective eyewear during their visit.


Prior to founding Scout's Artillery, Tran worked in puppetry, performance art and as an artist-in-residence at The Exploratorium.

She studied at California College of Arts & Crafts and received an MFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Tran is partially funded by Patreon and asks for minimal donations at the gallery. She has also created the graphic novel "Failing Sky" and designs a comic strip under the name Villianettes.

Tran said the most rewarding part of opening the gallery was “just watching people make deep, meaningful connections; they break themselves down a little and it leaves them really able to talk and open up."

Scout's Artillery is located at 752 Natoma St. Hours are 6–9pm on Wednesday and 5–8 on Sunday, donations accepted.