Friday, November 20, 2009

Autumnal Musings

It's November. The trees have almost shed all of their leaves. Crisp weather hints at winter to come, as our daylight hours become few and far between. It's that time of the year when we think of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, family and friends. Some of us have begun Christmas shopping, while others would rather pretend we still have months and months to go. For some of us, we anticipate parent/teacher conferences, vacations from school, the end of fall sports, and the beginning of winter ones. November is a month of transitions.

This time, last year, our building was purchased, and a dream began. We walked through hallways with weathered carpet, staring at walls that had seen better days. Cosmetic, we told ourselves. We knew it was all cosmetic, a little bit of sanding, some uprooting of carpet, some tearing down of walls, some paint, and the space would serve our purposes well. Optimism is always best when tackling a minor project. It becomes an absolutely necessary commodity when facing a major one.

Melanie began with her space, tearing up carpet, sanding the floors, painting, painting, painting. From there, the kitchenette, and then our office space, a studio, and the back hallway. In between, Floyd worked in the basement, painting walls and cement floors, installing sinks, and fixing up bathrooms. Next came the gallery space. Walls and ceilings came down, fixtures and hanging systems went up. Most recently, the hardwood floor in the entry is being restored. Our first and third floors are nearly complete, only minutiae remains. Behind the scenes, Rebekah has been making connections, marketing, and putting together our logo, business cards, and website. Together, we’re planning our Opening, March 13th and 14th. With all that's left to do, sometimes it feels as if we're attempting the impossible. But then we look back, and see how far we've come, how much we've already achieved. We are transitioning from dream to reality.

We hope you'll join us for our Opening Exhibition. As the weeks progress, we'll be posting tidbits of information here and at our website, currently under construction: www.somethingslooming.com. You can also become a fan at our Facebook page where you can see photos of our space: before, in progress, and afters of our renovations. In the upcoming weeks and months, we'll be listing the events of our Opening weekend, details of the exhibition, and our Open House.

Melanie