John Riepenhoff, curator of The Green Gallery, 801 E. Clarke St., writes the book when he explains why Milwaukee is a good place for progressive galleries.

"What I like about Milwaukee's art community is that it is not hard for a kid to make things happen," says Ripenhoff, 22. "The city is small enough to meet people and find resources to make small art openings or unique art, video and sound projects happen, and we also have some access to national and international art culture."

Riepenhoff, along with his brother Joe, run the gallery out of their mixed-use living space in Riverwest. The Green Gallery is a function of their larger project, called Hi-Fi production, a low-fi, not-for-profit independent record company, recording studio, booking agency, micro cinema, film and video producer, gallery and workshop.

The mission of the grassroots Green Gallery is, according to Riepenhoff, "geared toward simple smart-art that deals with contemporary viewpoints inside and outside the art world."

The brothers strive to provide inexpensive artwork by local and visiting artists, mixed media performance art, music and video to progressive thinkers.

"The goal of the Green Gallery is to encourage the community to become more active in both creating and collecting art objects," says Riepenhoff, who was raised in Wauwatosa and will graduate from the UWM Peck School of the Arts this May.

"I hope to raise the waning sense of localized community through neighbors sharing worldviews or to encourage them to respond outwardly to their environment," he says.

Commitment to the environment is reflected in the name, but "Green Gallery" stands for a whole lot more, including a nod to new ideas and freshness, the reality of how high price tags validate art (something Riepenhoff doesn't dig) and a now-defunct 1970s New York City gallery.

Green Gallery opened March 27 with a show by Frankie Martin and Eric Schoen. The next show, opening May 1 with a reception at 9 p.m., is called "Happy Robots and Some Flowers" and features drawings, paintings and digital prints by Milwaukee artists Mark A. Pendl and Dave Superactiondog.

On June 11, the gallery will feature an all-ages music show by the The Super Eights, The Paragraphs and The Flying Party at 9 p.m.

Soon, more summer events will be announced on their Web site, and with Riepenhoff's penchant for diversity, anything seems possible.

"I am a producer, but I also paint, draw, work with video, film, sculpture, write and record music and Web design," he says. "I try loads of stuff."

Green Gallery's Web site is anticool.org.