How one organization is helping a neighborhood while supporting artists.

by Mike Kravinsky

When artists present their crafts, displays are normally at a table within a festival or weekend flea market. When the event is over, everything is packed up, loaded up, and driven off. Most artists don't make enough money to lease retail space. In Washington, D.C. one group has discovered how to aid artists as well as bring customers to areas they normally wouldn't shop.

With private donations and a Washington DC government grant, Jessica Scheuerman is opening the Temporium, a pop-up retail space that for twenty-four days will provide a temporary "permanent" space for artists and attract new customers to the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C. "Our customers are not just coming to the Temporium; they're coming to the neighborhood,” says Scheuerman. "Once they come to our space, we're not going to say 'thank you - go home'. We're going to say 'go to ... these local businesses and activate our corridor for twenty-four days."  Scheuerman hopes that once the twenty-four days are over, people will return.

Other businesses in the neighborhood agree. “This is truly an exciting prospect that has the potential to attract hundreds of new visitors and their dollars to Mt. Pleasant; and to establish a retail location as an arts ‘anchor’ along the business corridor,” says Alex Kramer, owner of Dos Gringos Café and president of the Mt. Pleasant Business Association.

Meanwhile, the artists who display their work will often for the first time have a retail space that customers can come back to. In effect, at least for a month, they are part of a retail start up incubator.

My own experience with festival purchases is that I don't do them. Even if it looks interesting, I want to think about it. That's particularly true when it comes to art. Yes, you can get a business card and call if you decide to buy something, but how often do you really do that? With the Temporium, the artists have a somewhat permanent space that facilitates that interaction. If a customer wants to think about a purchase, that's okay. If they later decide to buy, they can go back to the same retail store.
 
Scheuerman is involved with almost all of the details of the Temporium's opening except for one - the choice of artists. "We are not experts. We don't curate art shows," she says. "We knew we needed to partner with someone who really was an expert." So Scheuerman partnered with artist group Hello Craft, which already knew of artists that had some sort of a following.

There was also one hitch to the $15,000 grant they received from the D.C. government - it couldn't be used for rent or utilities. Scheuerman discovered a store that was being leased, but whose tenant, Nana, wasn't moving in for a couple of months. She convinced the store’s owner, Jackie Flannigan, to lend them the space.

Scheuerman believes the Temporium could be a model for any area and landlord. "Even though you may be waiting for that dream tenant, that doesn't mean you have to leave that store empty for years and years."

The Temporium is an artist incubator, but Scheuerman notes that it is a community and economic development project as well. They expect to sell quite a bit of merchandise, but Scheuerman also hopes, "Once we're gone, hopefully there's going to be some energy left."

If you live or will be in the D.C. area February 18th through March 13th, try to visit the Temporium at 3068 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, Washington, DC 20010.  Along with the retail stores, there will be shows and events.