ARLINGTON, Texas—Tucked between a small creative arts studio and the rented offices of the Curtis Building in downtown’s Arts District stands the F6 Art Lounge.
With windows covered in portraits of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, the budding local art gallery and live music venue invites aspiring musicians to share their songs and find their voices within a supportive community.
Founded and operated by lifelong musician Mike Smith, F6 opened as a nonprofit music and art lounge in September 2023 with the focus of bringing live music into an intimate, accessible and community-driven space.
In addition to his wife, Dollie Smith, he is assisted by a small team of volunteers who practice music, refer possible performers for booking and help maintain the space when he’s away. Many volunteers started at F6 through internships for local colleges, acquiring skills in music and audio production as well as a passion for the cultural community that keeps them coming back.
“It’s kind of a party,” F6 team member Addis Riddle said. “It’s a consistent time and place for people that want to socialize around art. There’s a lot of colorful characters that it’s fun to just like come in and check in with everybody.”
Riddle said people who work at F6 are driven by their commitment to the venue.
“There’s not like set hours or anything like that,” Riddle said. “And this whole thing is so community run, you know, all the people that are here are just kind of doing it out of the enjoyment of it and the love for this space.”
Divided down the middle by a thin wall, the lounge is organized into two unique spaces with distinct purposes. One side of the building features canvas paintings and sculptures by local artists, while the other contains a music venue fit with drums, keyboards and enough seating for an audience of 40 people.
The lounge is known for its weekly jam nights scheduled every Thursday, starting at 7 p.m. and ending at a loosely defined 10 p.m. These jams see music fans of all ages fill the intimate, semi-circle of cushioned chairs and couches that surround the stage of the F6 venue.
“There’s as many chaotic moments as there’s magical moments,” Riddle said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get people to join in, sometimes it’s hard to get people to join out.”
The loose feel and supportive nature of the space make it a perfect entry point for first-time musicians to explore musical collaboration in a creative way. Some audience members grab maracas and shakers from the basket of provided instruments while others have brought their own from home, prepared to share their talent.
“It’s really cool, because I think we’ve had just about almost every mainstream genre in here,” F6 team member and house band guitarist Bre Hardin said. “It creates like a whole new texture for the jam. We’ve had a violinist, we’ve had the synthesizer, we’ve had the harmonica, we’ve had horns of all kinds. We just need a bagpipe now.”
F6 is scheduled to host a show with country swing band Uptown Drifters at 6 p.m. Sunday.
