Lee Meyerhoffer has had many homes in his 29 years. Born in Philadelphia, Penn., his father's career in the Navy had him moving from state to state. He's resided in Ohio, Nebraska, Minnesota, California, Texas, New York and even Iraq, where he served in the Marines.
"I spent a large portion of my life living in a really small town in Nebraska," he says. "At night, I'd always look at airplanes that would fly past and it was nice to see that life was going on somewhere else. I always wanted to leave, and to me, everything else was fantasy. Life was happening somewhere else and I feel like I was always chasing that."
It's Grand Rapids, Mich., however, where Meyerhoffer wants to stay. It's this modest-sized city that inspired Meyerhoffer to name his company
Lo-Kel, which is the phonetic spelling for "local." The name is backed by his "local only" attitude toward art and business in the community.
"I really try to promote the usage of local economy, local talent, local music, local art," he says. "I really feel like it builds a strong sense of community and it's sort of like a mutually beneficial way of doing things."
Meyerhoffer -- who has lived in Grand Rapids for three years -- met many of the artists he currently works with through the graphic design program at Grand Rapids Community College, where he studied. He aims to look for fresh, raw talent as opposed to already-established artists in order to help those whose art is less exposed grow.
"If I'm able to, I want to help other people get out there. Some of these guys are people I went to class with at GRCC and they have really cool artwork. On their own, they may not ever get exposed, but by putting on the show, I feel it's a good opportunity to get people to see their work, and hopefully, they'll sell some of it."
There was a point, however, where Meyerhoffer didn't think a career in art was feasible. Though always artistic, instead of pursuing a career in art, Meyerhoffer joined the Marines after high school because he thought it was the logical thing to do.
"I feel like people of our generation were lied to a lot as children. Most people told us that a career in art was not practical and wasn't possible, so I thought military was practical."
He soon found out the military wasn't a good fit for his passions in life.
"It gave me a really strong work ethic and a strong sense of taking pride in your work no matter what it is. Overall, I was miserable in the military. I don't like being treated like a little kid all the time -- getting yelled at constantly, getting demoralized. It was a necessary evil."
With no passion for the military, he served his four years -- including a tour in Iraq -- and got out. From there, Meyerhoffer started to pursue art more seriously. His main source of inspiration is street art and he uses his t-shirt designs as a legal way to display his art, as opposed to public graffiti.
"I don't want to go out and get arrested for throwing spray paint up or a poster on a wall. That's stuff I did when I was younger, and now that I'm older, I really don't want to have that as a liability in my life. T-shirts to me is the next logical step because you still get a lot of exposure and people are wearing it, but it's not illegal."
Now that he has a direction for his art, he has found a tight-knit group of artists that he works with on a regular basis. One of those collaborators is Gordie Zalewski, who owns the screen printing company, Legion Design. Meyerhoffer comes up with t-shirt designs, then sends them to Zalewski to print. It's this mutually beneficial relationship that Meyerhoffer hopes to grow with other artists.
"I would work with him forever if I could," Zalewski said. "I want to work with like-minded creative people, and he fulfills that. Lee's one of the most legit people I know. He's talented and down to earth."
Meyerhoffer feels the same way about his collaborator.
"Eventually, it's going to move into a full-time gig and then hiring on other employees and if it gets big enough, I want to be able to say, 'Hey Gordie, manufacturing is your thing. Get a bigger shop and start to get a bigger operation going."
Currently, Meyerhoffer's main focus is on t-shirt design. Eventually, he would like to grow the business to include publishing art books and hosting arts shows.
"My big picture for Lo-kel (is) I want it to be a very large online community," Meyerhoffer says. "I'm using t-shirts as a conduit to get things going -- it's easier profit, it's widely recognized, people wear it all over, it's like a walking billboard."
He's already taken the steps needed to do so. Five months ago, Meyerhoffer received an LLC for Lo-kel.
"Getting an LLC has empowered me where I feel that I'm established," he says. "This is mine to screw up and it's mine to make succeed. It's on me and I love that pressure. And I'm really passionate about it, so I feel good about it."
One of the steps he took was hosting a release party on May 20 for Lo-kel at Eyekons studio. The party featured not only Meyerhoffer's designs, but artwork from his friends, including Zalewski, Andy Zylstra, Derek Donley, Jevon Dismuke and Mole.
"Lee's art is aesthetically pleasing, but there's a statement that's subtle," Zalewski says. "It doesn't slap you in the face."
And that's Meyerhoffer's goal. He wants to be subtle with his messages and, most importantly, let his audience interpret his images as they like.
"I like for things to be left open. Some people want to know every single detail of it or they're not satisfied, and I'm satisfied with it being left open. There's a lot of pleasure in that mystique."
Lindsay Patton-Carson is the Managing Editor of Revue magazine. Originally from White Lake, Mich., she moved to Grand Rapids in order to pursue a degree in journalism from Grand Valley State University. She now considers Grand Rapids her home. Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved