For many months, the three-story, 9,300-square-foot Van Rooy Coffee Building on the north side of Detroit Avenue carried a lime-green sign that reads, “This is a future Spaces for art.” On Jan. 14, the nearly 40-year-old gallery finally opens its doors on a new location, adding more artistic flair to the up-and-coming Hingetown neighborhood that already has a bar, coffee and tea shop and the Transformer Station, the contemporary partner organization for the Cleveland Museum of Art. We chatted with Christina Vassallo, executive director of Spaces, to hear her thoughts on the much-anticipated move, and how the new digs are shaping the art being made.
Q: What was the disadvantage to your previous location on Superior Viaduct?
A: It was off the main drag. It felt a little isolated being surrounded by residential units. I think for any kind of cultural organization to really thrive, you have to become part of an afternoon’s worth of activities, right? Here, you can come to see a show at Transformer, have a coffee or two in between, maybe a beer at the Jukebox — then us. All in this two-block area.
Q: While we are talking about Transformer Station, any collaboration in mind?
A: We’re very much looking forward to participating in Front, this contemporary art biannual that’s debuting in 2018. I will say that before we even open to the public, we partnered with the Bop Stop, where Terence [Blanchard], a jazz trumpeter, recorded an album — along with in other cities that have withstood increasing tensions between unarmed African-Americans and police — and we introduced a visual component to his live recording. I mean that wouldn’t have even been part of our programming when we were on Superior Viaduct. It’s cool to be close to other organizations interested in social issues, and perhaps placing artists in the position of problem-solvers.
Q: Do you hope to be a new kind of space?
A: That’s a really good question. Not just because we’re more accessible here on Detroit but by presenting art outside our walls. You know, meeting people where they are. For instance, we’ve been working with the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center, and every month, we bring in a new organization to work with these kids to make art. They literally cannot come to Spaces, so we’ve decided that we’re just going to go to them.