Photo by Kinsee Morlan

The reason we never fixed the roof:
Once all of our donations were collected the next step was to contact the property management and talk to them about drafting a new lease agreement.  We wanted it in writing that if we spent the time and money to fix the roof that they wouldn’t raise our rent or evict us prematurely.  We never got the opportunity to talk to the property manager.  He dodged us for weeks.  Weeks turned into months.  We had been trying since spring to get a hold of the guy.  We just recently gave up.

What killed ICE?  What now?:
We got information a couple weeks ago that a local architect was buying the property, the whole block in fact, and had plans to demolish the building in order to build new housing and shopping.  We found this out not from the owner of our building but through mutual friends of the architect.  We still had yet to hear from the owner.  Through yet another friend who used to work for the architect we found out that the plans for demo weren’t going to be implemented for at least a few months.  So we scrapped all plans to fix the building (obviously) and decided we’d temporarily patch the roof and try to have at least a couple more shows before it all ended.   We finally heard from the owner this week.  Our eviction notice came via their lawyers.  We have to be out by January 1st.

The good news:
As far as ICE goes, well, it’s dead.  If there’s no old ice factory then what’s the point in calling it ICE Gallery?  However, the ICE gang has been offered a new space in a very interesting art and design building that will open next year.  We’re so excited!  So plan on seeing more activity from us in the months to come.  We’ll keep you in the loop as more details are solidified.   In addition, we’re planning on having one more opening before January 1st.  We’re very happy that our good friend Tom Driscoll is planning on doing a site specific installation before fate deals it’s final blow.

Barring any further unforeseen circumstances, the opening for Tom Driscoll’s show will be Friday December 7th – details to come.  We can’t wait to see what Tom comes up with!

We are so very grateful to everyone that came out to the openings and to all who showed interest in what we do.

A special thanks to those who donated to the “Save ICE Gallery” fund earlier this year:

Philipp Scholz Ritterman, Pamela Putian, Edith Baumann, Joan & Reuben Baron, Amanda Durbin, Mathew Simms, Harmony Murphy, Naomi Tarle, Marissa Feliciano, DJ Mane One, Jenna Jacobs, Juan Villescas, Paul Roberts, Kinsee Morlan, Ben Strauss-Malcolm, Christina Hendershaw, Therese James Chung, Jeannie Armstrong, Sarah Trujillo-Porter, Alex Calderon, Jon Hall, Seth Combs, Mara De Luca

If we somehow forgot your name (we hope not!), let us know.

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!

Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere.  We’ve got big plans for 2013. 😉