Storefront

Photographer: Joe Iano, Nate Watters, Kevin Scott For the past two years, this experimental work space served as a venue for a series of design, culture and social practice experiments. Created and directed by an architecture firm's principals and owners, this project brought together a host of community organizations and individuals including artists, activists, performers, a food entrepreneur, academics, high school filmmakers, collectors, an urban design think tank, historians, builders, engineers, museums, poets, advocates for the homeless, curators, educators, and a mushroom farmer. Each partnership began with asking potential collaborators, 'What can we do together that we can't do apart'' Responses led to fourteen unique installations as wide ranging as a mushroom farm to a film studio. In addition to serving as curator for each installation, architecture staff from the firm provided design and fabrication expertise. Installations were conceived, organized and built in 4 weeks with volunteer labor, and frequently with donated and repurposed materials. Budgets for each installation averaged $1,000. The slogan for this experimental space was simple'Everyone is welcome; Nothing is for sale. Past installations include Mushroom Farm, Record Store, Free Book Installation, Table Talk and Skid Road among others.