Story Time
Once upon a time, in the city of South Bend, Indiana, two artists named Greg and Julian embarked on a journey that would forever change their lives. They had a dream to create a space where their community could connect with each other through the power of art. Little did they know that their faith in God and their unwavering determination would lead them to achieve their mission with a budget of $0.
[We are grateful for God’s grace and for the many ways He has blessed us. We are also grateful for the opportunity to share our story with you. We hope that it will inspire you to trust in God and to walk by faith]
How It Began
In 2016, the City of South Bend, Indiana, was undergoing a massive street renovation in its west side. The aim of the project was to help drive more traffic to the small businesses that populated the main street.
With new paved streets, new lamp posts, new stoplights, and new sidewalks, the west side of town was ready to celebrate its facelift with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The ceremony included street vendors, family-friendly attractions, and a pop-up art gallery that was used to cover up an abandoned storefront where the event was to take place
Event organizers reached out to Greg and I for volunteer help to be in charge of the pop-up art gallery setup.
We graciously agreed to volunteer and we quickly gathered a group of close friends and family who were willing to help us transform the abandoned store front into a pop-up art gallery.
They provided us with cleaning supplies and materials to clean out the venue. They also brought in three different paint colors: Caution Yellow, Handicapped Blue and White to paint the walls. That’s it. (Hence our branding colors)
We took breaks to play and create with friends and family.
The walls were painted and we cleaned the venue as much as we possibly could.
We came up with the name ART GALLERY 2910 (2910 being the address) and we were ready for art, so we put a call for artists.
Having worked and partnered with various organizations in the city of South Bend, I was surrounded by a fantastic community of creatives that made it easier to gather artwork for the opening night.
The artwork started rolling in and it was a great feeling seeing all the artists happy to showcase their creations.
Opening Night
July 7th. 2016 South Bend, IN. USA
It’s opening night and the artwork is up and The City of South Bend has everything prepared for the ribbon cutting ceremony. The news just pulled up and houndreds of locals show up thanks for the TV and radio ads.
Everyone was in awe upon entering the transformed venue.
We featured over 30 different local and regional artists with live music.
Even the mayor and his partner showed up and we got to shake their hands.
The pop-up art gallery had become an experience in itself.
Locals begin encouraging us to keep the art up and make use of the great momentum to establish an actual art gallery that was very much needed in town.
We took the leap of faith and the rest is history!
What Does it Look Like Today?
After figuring out a “business plan”, we moved our studio to a better venue in the downtown area. Three years later we moved again to the Mishawaka shopping district which is where we currently host our paint parties.
We thank God and our wonderful community for the continued support and thank you for reading our story! 🙂