River's Edge Pop-Up Gallery

2013 June on Jefferson Pop-Up Collection

*Photograph by Chris and Michelle Gerard*

As part of the June on Jefferson Pop-Up Collection, an abandoned liquor store was converted into a temporary art gallery. Located in the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood of Detroit, the five volunteer designed and constructed pop-ups in the collection worked together to attract long term tenants to the spaces, while giving entrepreneurs an opportunity to test their business models. Rather than competing with it, the architecture of the gallery was designed to serve as a backdrop for the art. Materials reclaimed during demolition were used to provide reference to the past uses, reduce waste, and keep the budget under $2000.

I'm happy to say the project was a success. Several of the pop-up spaces now house permanent tenants, including Rock City Records which inhabits the former gallery space.