To those of you who wonder how some poor artists who live paycheck to paycheck can afford to have a space in a decent, high traffic part of town…this is one of the main reasons why:

If it’s wet outside, then it’s bound to be wet inside. This puddle is relatively tame compared to how it can get on a day when it pours. Today was just a mild shower. As you can imagine, this can be really frustrating when you’re trying to install a show that’s supposed to open in a week. Hell, if this continues, we might have to postpone more shows until after winter. Ugh, so aggravating. But again, that’s part of the reason the space at 3417 30th St is an artist run exhibition space, and not some trendy clothing store.

Ah well, on a sunnier note…we got new concrete! Yes! Much like the rest of the property, the sidewalk in front of the building was deteriorated beyond repair. As you can see in the picture below from Lee’s 2010 show, it was half shoddy asphalt, half dirt.

It was finally time to do something about it.  So early one Saturday morning, Lee, Joey, and Michael went at that crappy asphalt with a digging bar and a sledge hammer.

and then dug out a reasonably level hole, and made two trips to the dump to get rid of the asphalt.

That was enough for one day.  Breaking up asphalt is hard work.  The next day it was time to lay some rebar in preparation for a new pad of concrete.   The concrete would have to wait a week though, so that we could have a professional help us.  Here’s where Dave comes in.  What an incredibly nice guy.  Dave was willing to help us pour the concrete for FREE just to help out a few penniless artists.  It just goes to show you that if you’re enthusiastic about a project, you can find others that will be just as enthusiastic about helping you, even if you have no money.

Man, Dave worked his ass off that day.  And when it was all done and we handed him a few dollars of appreciation, he was stunned.  He honestly didn’t expect any payment for the job, he did it just to help out some fellow artists.  Thank you Dave!  (and thanks to Jeremy for telling Dave about us, and for helping with the labor)

Well, all done.  This pad of concrete will definitely outlast the building.

Now when is Michael’s show going to finally be done?  What the heck is going on in there anyway?

Find out on 9/16/2011…provided it doesn’t rain.