Burlington’s Pine Street corridor, already home to many artist spaces, is about to get a new one in caps: S.P.A.C.E. That stands for Soda Plant Artist Collective Environment and is the brainchild of Burlington artist Christy Mitchell, 28. “I’ve been part of collectives before and then on my own, and realized I really missed that interaction,” she says. “When I started working for Steve [Conant], I discovered there was a warehouse space for rent.”
The 2500-square-foot room, right behind Conant Metal & Light, proved impossible to resist. Mitchell hooked up with fellow artist Aaron Stein, who, in addition to making cool things from license plates, has handy construction skills. “He’s building partitions and gallery walls,” she explains. “We’re still under construction, but it will be finished later this week.”
Mitchell, who makes art lighting (Seen those lamps made from old radios and cameras? They’re hers…), decorative tile assemblages and other “repurposed” items, says S.P.A.C.E. will also house studios for “strange doll” maker Beth Robinson, clay sculptor John Brickels and mixed-media sculptor Jake Rifkin. The group will host a “tentative meet-and-greet” this week for Burlington’s First Friday Art Walk. On Saturday, August 15, 5-9 p.m., they’ll throw a benefit art auction for the new collective. The pieces are donations from local artists — pictures can be viewed at augustartauction.com — who in turn will be entered into a drawing for a monthlong exhibition at the space, er, S.P.A.C.E.
This article appears in Aug 5-11, 2009.
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