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Homeshop: A Public/Private Project

Homeshop

Homeshop is a collective, a public/private space, an intersection of new art audiences and traditional art markets, a collaborative social practice, and could be an incredible model for thinking about the many vacant storefronts in Windsor. Homeshop is an apartment, an open studio, and a gallery.

I read about Homeshop in an article in the newest issue of the e-flux journal #5 (which I can absolutely recommend going through in its entirity), and the excitement around the potential of this type of organization and use of space was impossible to ignore.

So why continue to think about the impossibility of affording spaces for individual artists in the city, or the seemingly dwindling support for arts in the city, or any traditional route for production / exhibition? This is not to negate the existing infrastructures we have (and cherish), but just to suggest that there are new models for collective and collaborative space and production that could help Windsor is infinite ways.

What if you could rent a storefront downtown, have a small apartment space in the back, and a studio / gallery up front for the same rent you pay now?

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TVO’s the Agenda Camp in Windsor

TVO's the Agenda Camp in Windsor, Ontario

I spent the day at AgendaCamp, which is part of The Agenda’s series on the manufacturing economy. The idea was to get a bunch of people in the community together and create discussions around the manufacturing economy, the city, and the future of both. From there, the discussions were summarized, photographed, twiettered, video(ed), and uploaded to a wiki, where hopefully the discussion continues. 

The question I asked in my session was, “Why should I stay in Windsor after I graduate?” I was hoping to provoke not only discussion, but some real things that could happen in this city to encourage me and people like me to stick around after graduation. This is a question I really want to ask the city council and mayor, but that’s another project down the road. A lot of people were receptive to what I briefly described at BCL’s activities and I think we made some new connections with like-minded people in the community.

Tomorrow night there will be a live broadcast of The Agenda in its regular roundtable discussion format, and I’ve been asked to reiterate my question on live television.

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Jennifer Marsh's Gas Station Cozy

Jennifer Marsh's Gas Station Cozy

Jennifer Marsh’s International Fiber Collaborative gathered 3,000 fiber panels to cover an abandoned Citgo gas station in central New York state. The panels were collected from students and artists spread across 15 countries. Very exciting potential for a collaborative public art project. On top of organizing the project, Marsh also gave workshops on how to crochet and make the panels to a number of students in New York and Virginia.

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