INSPIRATION says Peter Prinz, Space One Eleven CEO and co-founder.
SOE quickly made friends with some of the youth living in the area. The kids were curious; when they learned SOE was an arts-based organization, they said they wanted to be artists too. SOE opened their doors, and with the community’ s input, created projects that were relevant to the people who called the area home. The organization became a resident in the community. By beautifying the neighborhood, SOE made a commitment that is still being honored almost 30 years later.
“ We’ ve been doing creative placemaking ever since we moved downtown to 2nd Avenue North. As pioneers of the neighborhood, we were creative placemakers before the phrase existed,” says Cheryl Lewis, director of programs.“ We bring diverse groups of people together around art, through our education, mentoring and visual arts programs. We host a wide range of contemporary art exhibitions in our galleries, and also in storefront windows in our building and other buildings downtown, bringing cultural opportunities to people who may not view art in a gallery setting.”
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