In 2003, New York-based performance artist Scotty Heron came to New Orleans for the winter and never left. Discovering that housing was extremely cheap, he decided to buy a little place on St. Roch Avenue. The shotgun had a big cinder block room attached to it that over the years had housed a Chinese laundry and a security/handgun training company.

Realizing the potential of the space, the idea of a grass-roots art space was born. Soon a business license was obtained from the city for the Sidearm Gallery and the doors were flung open for the grand opening show, "3 Minutes of Pork and Shoving", a collaboration between Heron and Hijack Dance from Minneapolis which was featured in Gambit's Hot Seven and played three nights to full houses.

Encouraged by this success, other events followed, including "Don't Touch My Bikini" a collaborative fashion performance event by Howlpop and Andrea Loest, John Calhoun's "Hotrod Princess", "The Scotty and David One Ring Circus Extravaganza Kids Show," the world premier of Thomas Little's film "Chicken Shit", Dennis Monn's "The Turd and Other very Short Plays," Frank and Eve DuPont's marionette show "Stars on Strings," and the performance/live recording of "Louisiana Homecoming" by the Cowgill Family Singers.

Visual artists shown in the gallery include: Joel Crispin, Tony Nozero, Suzanne Sheridan, Miss Led, Jeannie Detweiler, Kelli Thompson, Doug McQueen, Ray Johnson and Kathleen Kadair.