I hopped to downtown Appleton to check out the city's first pop-up gallery, The Rabbit, which is organized by Lawrence University students in conjunction with local artists in order to use vacant shop space on College Avenue, and to forge a much-needed/appreciated connection between Lawrence and the community. Organizations, galleries and artists in the Appleton area have been working more diligently over the last couple of years to bring the arts to the public... and if one is even remotely acquainted with Appleton, it's clear that College Avenue is the place to pull this off -- at least to start.
And things are happening. Houdini Plaza, which connects to my workplace, The Trout Museum of Art, is undergoing a major overhaul and should be finished soon. The Trout Museum itself has become a house for many major arts organizations such as the Makaroff Ballet, White Heron Chorale, Fox Valley Symphony, and more. Lawrence University has the Wriston Art Center Galleries, and their own set of music and theatre programs, but it has been rare indeed that the events of Appleton and those of Lawrence have been brought together cohesively. That's what I like about the Rabbit Gallery: it's a small scale, trendy and classy little gallery space that puts Lawrence students in the community, gives them arts management and entrepreneurial experience, and brings the community into Lawrence's world.
Not to mention it's a pop-up, and I love pop-up anything!
There is a pretty solid mix of student and local artist work, and some of it is quite interesting! The old art store space provides a great setup. It's up through June 8, so if you want to check it out, and you're in the area, it's in the space where Avenue Art Co. used to be, in the City Center shopping mall at 10 E. College Ave. (access from the street on Sundays).
And on my way back out of town, I happened across this Sunday afternoon demolition, which was striking to see from a couple of blocks away -- a big, gaping building. I actually never knew what this place was, but apparently it was a low-income senior apartment building. I have no idea what's going to happen in this space, and I don't think the city knows either. It's going to be turned into green space, according to the local newspaper, until development plans are made.
Okay then! Happy Sunday!
Days to Edinburgh move-in: 104
