September 23, 2002 --Rick Rameriz has lived around here for years and is a familiar face in the Carrboro/Chapel Hill music scene. He thinks it was probably around 1994 when he began to give serious thought to opening a gallery/performance space in Carrboro. His recording/production company has kept him busy recording music for area bands at local venues. His website, Templeball.com, is an eclectic retail store featuring posters of psychedelic and world art, books, marbles, music related prints, and more. But Rick had bigger fish to fry. He had been scouting for a location in the Carrboro area for quite some time. When he looked at the space occupied by Orange Plumbing for years, he knew his time had come.  "I didn't have the resources to make it happen, but I knew this was it," says Rameriz. "Mr. Yates, the man who ran Orange Plumbing, retired and this building opened up. I'd been checking out Carrboro for years. When I saw this space, I knew I had to do it now."It was then that he contacted Nemo, an psychedelic artist he met when he was selling a book of psychedelic poster art on E-Bay a couple of years ago. They had bartered a trade for the book, and now it was time for Nemo to go to work. Sketch in hand, he began the 3-D mural he had designed for the exterior of Temple Ball Gallery. With cans of foam insulation and paint, he went to work.  Temple Ball is more than just a gallery though. When you walk in the front door you enter the retail space, where Rick will be selling world art carvings and weavings, as well as other items and some local area art. As you continue through the next door you've entered into the De La Luz Performance Space, which Rick envisions as a sort of mini version of the ArtsCenter (which is right across the street). Here he plans to have live music, ongoing art exhibits, and a performance space for everything from plays to locally produced videos. Eventually he will be producing live performance CDs, achieving his ultimate goal of recording music at his own venue. Talk has already begun of the De La Luz Performance Space's participation in next year's Carrboro Music Festival. "I had really hoped to be involved in the festival this year," said Rameriz, "but everything look a little longer than we had anticipated. Next year we definitely want to be involved." In the meantime Rick and his helpers continue work on the building, transforming the space into a wonderful multimedia art arena. The parking lot beside the building will one day host an awning for outdoor performances. For now, they are concentrating on the main space. 
Rick tentatively hopes for his retail store, gallery space, and De La Luz Performance Space to open in early October, and plans to be open 6 days a week from noon until 9 pm. This may change as he finds out what will work best for his new endeavor. We'll keep you posted."Nobody buys art before noon, do they?" he asks with a smile. To contact Rick Rameriz at Temple Ball or for more information about the De La Luz Performance Space call 919-929-1208 or e-mail info@templeball.com or check out their website at templeball.com. Temple Ball Open House... Computer Stuff | Downtown Carrboro Map | Events | Prices | Restaurants | UniqueOrn Enterprises 
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