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South Side artist Val M Cox transformed a former garage for hearses and limousines into a spacious work studio and living space.

It only took four weeks and $10,000 to $20,000 to renovate the two-bay garage. Cox designed the renovation and had a construction crew do the work about four years ago, with the blessing of owner Jack Kirk.

"This has worked out so well. I really feel at home here," says Cox, 51. "I'm really spoiled. I've always lived and worked in the same space. My commute is 15 feet from the end of the room."

Cox led visitors through the 3,200-square-foot space on a recent morning. The first room is a private exhibit hall where some of his sculptures hang. Travel down a narrow hallway where his abstract paintings hang, turn left and you'll enter his large studio. A paint-splattered dropcloth sits on the floor, and colorful sculptures suspend from chains on the walls.

A workroom at the end of the studio is where Cox assembles minimalist-inspired canvases and frames his abstract paintings. A Waco, Texas, native and former resident of Santa Fe, N.M., Cox moved here five years ago because of a friend. Cox's work is exhibited at James Gallery on the West End. The apartment consists of a sparse bedroom and bathroom, a cozy den and a kitchen.

"I don't need a lot of space to live," he says with a laugh. "I've learned over the years to live in small spaces."

Cox had everything in the garage painted white, including the floor. The workmen put up drywall in the exhibit area, and a metal stud with corrugated fiberglass sheathing serves as a wall partition between the studio and the hallway. The hallway separates the living area from the studio.

The kitchen, with brick walls painted white, also serves as a catering facility when Cox has showings for his work. All of his decor is white as well, including a couch, chair, bed, kitchen appliances and walls.

"White is easy on my eyes," Cox says. "I can envision the colors I'll be painting."

The property has an interesting history, says Carol J. Peterson of House Histories, in Lawrenceville. French immigrant Anton Krut built a wagon shop on the land in 1865, where he built and repaired wagons and carts. The wagon shop lasted until 1917. East Carson Street merchant Frank Koegler bought the property and tore down most of the building. He used part of it as a silversmith's shop and constructed a garage on the property.

Kirk's family bought the property in the 1950s and built the garage that housed the Kirk Livery.

"The area became very congested and changed the community," says Kirk, owner of Gmiter Funeral Home on the South Side. "Parking was bad."

Allowing Cox to make the garage into his dream studio and apartment worked out for everyone involved. Property manager Carlo Schiaretta says the design and construction "complemented the artistic nature of Val." Schiaretta supervised some of the construction and says it's common in commercial leases to let the tenant renovate a property.

"What he's done there is just beautiful," Schiaretta says. "It's a pretty unique design."

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