In 2007, Paul Amenta was looking for a way to give his sculpture students some experience outside the classroom. To do this, he started SiTE:LAB, which was then called ActiveSite, to use empty, but architecturally intriguing spaces as homes for one-night art shows.
SiTE:LAB Workflow, as a part of Art Downtown, will be the third SiTE:LAB event held in the old public museum building, 54 Jefferson Ave. SE. It’s “rare that a nonprofit would have access to a building like this and a museum collection,” said Amenta. The show will deviate from previous SiTE:LAB events in that it will be focused on printmaking and art made in the exhibition space. On April 12, there will be “a fully functioning letterpress printshop” said Amenta, “we’ll have a couple thousand people” visit the space. Previous SiTE:LAB shows have been based on sculpture an installation works, so the focus on printmaking will be a new element.
This isn’t the first time that SiTE:LAB has been a part of Art Downtown in the old public museum building. In 2010, their exhibit, Michigan, Land of Riches, was part of Art Downtown and was the first show to be held in the building. Amenta is already planning his show for ArtPrize, which will likely be the last SiTE:LAB event held at the old public museum. Most of the other buildings that SiTE:LAB has used for their events have been unused commercial spaces, “usually a gutted out old building” which makes the 54 Jefferson building unique, even by SiTE:LAB’s unconventional standards. Generating awareness of underutilized spaces is a major goal of SiTE:LAB, and many of the spaces that the group has used have gone on to be renovated and made useful again.
Many local artist groups will be involved with the event, such as NotDesign and Dinderbeck as well as student artists from Kendall College of Art and Design, Hope College, and Western Michigan University.
On Facebook, over 300 people have RSVP’d to say that they will attend SiTE:LAB Workflow. SiTE:LAB attracts visitors primarily through social media, using networks of participants and fans to generate buzz for the exhibit, making it a major attraction of Art Downtown. What do visitors think? “I’m particularly interested in printmaking,” said Chris Bell, who has attended two previous SiTE:LAB events. He said he has high hopes for SiTE:LAB Workflow, even though previous events “fell a little short of where they could be.”
SiTE:LAB Workflow will be an opportunity for the community to see printmaking and other art in an unconventional gallery space.
If this post sounds a little different than the usual fare, it’s because I wrote it for my journalism class. Thoughts? Should I write like this all the time? Heheh, maybe I will.