Alternative Spaces

As more and more news floods in of funding shutdowns and unreasonable capitulations being asked of major art and culture institutions across the country, it can feel overwhelming. Many have expressed a sense of powerlessness, of not knowing where to go when the spaces they relied on are going or gone. This writer does not have an answer for that. What this writer does have is a belief that now more than ever it is of the utmost importance to come together in our local communities, to support our grassroots arts and culture hubs, and to show up for the artists, curators and collaborators who are putting themselves on the line to continue making and showcasing their art. Here is a slim selection of the kinds of spaces likely growing in your own backyard. Reach out. Find out what you can do to water these weeds, and you may just find yourself with a bountiful garden.

THE STOREFRONT GALLERY
Holyoke, MA

Holyoke is a historically diverse community and, as is so often the case, a historically underserved community. Rather than relying on aid that may never come from above, the people of Holyoke have been working to rebuild infrastructure and recapture the artistic imaginations of their friends and neighbors. Enter Holyoke Art. This nonprofit organization is young, founded just two years ago, but thriving. Holyoke Art runs two brick-and-mortar institutions downtown: The ARTery, a storefront featuring the work of over one hundred local artists and makers, and the Print Shop, a makerspace offering practical resources and training for artists, makers and community members.

Now, Holyoke Art has taken it a step further with the Storefront Gallery. The Storefront Gallery is a project which, rather than trying to bring the public into art spaces, brings art into public spaces. The windows of a vacant storefront next to the ARTery have been transformed into a public exhibition space that is “free, accessible, and visible to anyone walking down the street,” according to executive director Kathy McKean. “The Storefront Gallery is a celebration of how art can reimagine challenges as opportunities and turn public space into something more vibrant, inclusive, and alive.”

Production for this project was done almost entirely in Holyoke, with prints being made at the Print Shop. McKean spoke of the importance of owning and controlling the means of production, a fact which allowed Holyoke Art to stretch their budget and offer a $500 stipend to participating artists. The project was made possible in part with support from Mass Cultural Council and Holyoke Local Cultural Council.

McKean also spoke of the impact this project had not just on the audience and artists, but on the community at large. A restaurant adjacent to the Storefront Gallery reported an immediate uptick in sales around the opening reception event. Property owners elsewhere in the city have asked about having art put up in their windows. A small change to a downtown storefront, and the ripple effects can be felt throughout an entire community.

THE GUTHRIE CENTER
Great Barrington, MA

Musician and activist Arlo Guthrie founded The Guthrie Center in 1991 to honor the legacy of his parents, Woody Guthrie and Marjorie Mazia-Guthrie. In the more than thirty years since then, The Guthrie Center has continued to serve as a cultural hub, music venue and community center from its home in the historic Old Trinity Church. This deconsecrated church was once the home of Alice and Ray Brock, friends of Arlo Guthrie, and the setting for his hit song “Alice’s Restaurant” and the eponymous film which followed. The Center is currently run by Annie Guthrie, executive director, and Shivadas “Mo” Guthrie, director.

According to Mo Guthrie, Arlo had “a vision that this would be a place for folks to gather, where people of all different backgrounds, it didn’t matter who you were, it didn’t matter where you came from, the church was your space as well, to gather for musical, spiritual, cultural and community exchange.” Every Wednesday, the Center holds a community lunch, feeding anyone who shows up for free. The Berkshire Center for Justice holds a concurrent free legal clinic during these lunches. In addition, the Center has a musical instrument lending library open those days, giving access to musical self-expression for all. The first Sunday of each month sees Praise Sunday, a nondenominational, interfaith spiritual connection hour.

Building off the legacy of folk music that Woody and Arlo Guthrie established, The Guthrie Center routinely brings in musicians for free or pay-what-you-can performances. These musical acts run the gamut from small, local musicians to nationally renowned folk artists. Matt Axton, son of country musician Hoyt Axton, will perform on September 19. The following day, the Center is hosting Old Number One at Fifty, a celebration of Guy Clark in collaboration with the Guy Clark Foundation, which supports new and emerging musical artists.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Center will host its annual Feed Everyone Thanksgiving Dinner, which is free with reservations. Looking further into the future, the Center will hold its annual Walk to Massacre Huntington’s Disease on May 17, which raises both awareness and funds to defeat the disease which claimed Woody Guthrie’s life.

AUSPICIOUS BREW
Dover, NH

When thinking of alternative spaces for art, one might not immediately think of their local kombucha brewery (the first in the state). Yet, Auspicious Brew combines herbalist beverages, bar drinks, art on consignment, live music, and an active space for the LGBTQ+ community to gather and celebrate. Founder and owner Helen Leavitt’s original plan was to build a space to sell her home-brewed kombucha, where people could benefit from her farming and herbalist background and enjoy a quiet place to chat and come together.

Artists have been a part of Auspicious Brew from early in the company’s history. In 2021, as Leavitt was trying to draw more people into the space, she had the idea to host a pop-up consignment shop for the holidays. It was meant to last from late November to early January. Instead, a wide variety of art, from handcrafted jewelry, to digitally rendered stickers, books on Romani fortune telling, ceramic mugs and magnets, prints, paintings and more, can be found and purchased at the bar to this day.

In addition, Auspicious Brew hosts regular Sunday craft and art pop-ups, with local makers and artisans tabling inside or out, and occasional maker’s markets for special occasions such as the Summer Solstice. Performance art plays a large part in Auspicious Brew’s event cycles, as well, with open mics, karaoke, poetry, live bands, drag shows and more filling most evenings.

Leavitt shared that people tell her, “I come here by myself, and I wouldn’t ever go anywhere by myself. I feel comfortable hanging my bag on the hook here, and I don’t think twice about it.” These testimonies show that this space is indeed one of community and safety, something that can only be made possible through the open collaboration of owners, staff and visitors. With a major expansion on the horizon in 2026, Leavitt expressed the continued need for such collaboration. “We absolutely need the support of people who are interested, want to collaborate, love herbal beverages, like to show up, spread the word, come to our events, stuff like that.”

MAIN STREET MUSEUM
Hartford, VT

On the website for Main Street Museum, its history is described like this: “In 1992 a small museum opened its doors, and immediately attracted a broad cross-section of Vermont and New Hampshire’s citizenry: academics, art professionals, musicians, politicians, journalists, the under-employed, the inveterate ne’er-do-wells, and even the quite ordinary.” This wry, tongue-in-cheek tone mixed with a genuine mission to bring together all kinds of people in the Upper Valley sums up the general vibe of Main Street Museum.

Part public venue, part oddities museum, the space is as unique as can be. The Museum hosts free movies on Tuesdays, “Piano Night” on Fridays (the piano in question being a 1930s Aeolian Player Piano), and a wide multitude of concerts, festivals, poetry readings and more. Every two months, the Museum displays a different local artist’s work. Nine-year volunteer Joie Finley said, “We have described our venue as between the garage and the tour for musicians and between the spare room and the Met for artists.”

On September 13 and 14, Main Street Museum will host their annual DIY music festival What Doth Rumble featuring thirty-four bands and solo artists, more than fifteen vendors, workshops and more. The twenty-third annual GORY DAZE event will be held on November 1. This Halloween-themed day of fun and music is kid-friendly, with an adults-only Evening Ball to follow at the opera house.

Main Street Museum is a nonprofit entirely staffed by volunteers. It is run on local donations, receives no state or federal funding, and yet is dedicated to maintaining free and accessible events for all. Further, Main Street Museum is always looking for the next collaboration, the next opportunity. Those with ideas they would like to see come to fruition are encouraged to reach out and discover what their community organization can do for them.

KISHKA GALLERY & LIBRARY
White River Junction, VT

Kishka Gallery & Library was founded by Ben Finer and his partner Bevan Dunbar in 2021. They had experience running a small museum prior to the pandemic, and were looking for a new creative outlet, “an interesting project, a way to bring some energy and creativity to this area.” Finer saw that the Upper Valley had many institutions built around regional art. The Hood Museum of Art’s proximity meant that the niche of internationally recognized and historical artists had been filled, as well. What was missing, it would seem, were those artists in the middle. Finer started Kishka to engage in contemporary art, contemporary art subjects and contemporary art conversations, and bring those into this tight-knit community.

Kishka has offered a range of mediums from traditional sculpture, drawing and painting to puppet shows, performance art, avant garde work and drag shows. Anything that could be considered part of the contemporary art scene is considered for Kishka’s exhibitions. The gallery is free and open to all, as are all events. Some may require RSVPs so that the gallery can anticipate space and seating needs, but every event or show is accessible to every member of the community. Dave Zackin’s Cheap for Art, Expensive for Dishes features ceramics that sit somewhere between sculpture and functional objects and is on view through September 20. From October 3 to November 1, An Ever Changing View shows Yen Yen Chou’s unique, whimsical wall sculptures and drawings. Kishka shows monthly museum-quality exhibitions.

Kishka holds roughly 1,000 art books spanning art history and contemporary art. Books can be taken out for free just like any lending library. In this way, Kishka is able not just to show visitors examples of active contemporary art, but to educate, as well. Finer spoke to the act of exploration through reading physical books. “You can only Google something if you know what to Google, whereas books don’t have that. You can come to a book with no pre-knowledge and just pick it up off the shelf and suddenly discover something.” The gallery boasts a cozy, library-like atmosphere that encourages long stays, and a three-year-old “chiweenie” named Knish to welcome visitors.

NXTHVN
New Haven, CT

NXTHVN is a nonprofit arts organization which was founded in New Haven by Titus Kaphar, who continues to serve as president, and Jason Price, who serves as chairman of the board. NXTHVN’s focus is on providing space, resources and opportunities to emerging artists, curators and entrepreneurs in the surrounding community. It is a relatively new organization, opening its creative campus in the Dixwell neighborhood six years ago in 2019.

One of NXTHVN’s most important programs is the year-long Fellowship Program, which recently welcomed the Cohort 07 group of fellows. These fellowships, offered to both practicing visual artists and curators, provide participating fellows with individual mentorship as well as broader professional development opportunities focused on administrative and theoretical aspects of the profession. Part of another key program, NXTHVN provides paid art apprenticeships for New Haven-based high school students with an interest in pursuing careers in art or curation. These students are paired with NXTHVN fellows to allow an exchange of ideas on both sides.

Beyond uplifting and supporting emerging and early career artists and curators, NXTHVN aims to “collaborate with emerging businesses as an incubator to nurture cultural and capital value in the neighborhood,” according to Marissa Del Toro, assistant director of programs and exhibitions. Del Toro is also an alumnus of NXTHVN’s Fellowship Program, as a curatorial fellow from Cohort 03.

NXHVN is also a physical exhibition space where visitors gather and experience innovative art. On view through November 23, Reverence: An Archival Altar New Haven was guest curated by Arvia D. Walker. Walker is “a New Haven-based artist and curator that celebrates the unique stories of the everyday person held as the ‘greats and giants’ within the local Black community of New Haven,” said Del Toro. On October 2, interested and registered participants can create artworks to honor loved ones in their own families, including a phototransfer onto a printed canvas. On October 25, exhibiting artists for Reverence and participating families share stories and insights into the works on display.