Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

Something Wants to Happen: New leadership and new energy re-make the MakeSpace.

Screenshot 2016-02-26 16.48.03In 2012, a new arts group formed in Harrisburg, full of energy and promise.

It was called the MakeSpace, a collective based on the idea that artists could take a dilapidated building in a transitional neighborhood, renovate it and transform it into a haven for the arts: studios, gallery space, live music, creative collaboration.

Almost four years later, the MakeSpace has carved a niche for itself in Harrisburg, but the energy has dissipated. Nonetheless, the promise is still there.

Enter Mikey Rioux, a 36-year-old multi-disciplinary artist and long-time Chicago resident who has taken over as head of the group—and the building.

“The MakeSpace feels very insular right now,” he said. “That’s something that I think about a lot. I feel a huge responsibility to make this space more available and to serve the community better.”

 

Pretty Solid

Despite being a Midtown fixture for years, the MakeSpace still feels like one of those things that wants to happen.

Established by artist Liz Laribee and a steering committee in 2012, the renovated row home features eight studios and a gallery portion.

“When the MakeSpace first opened, I had no idea what to expect,” said Michael Fisher, the only original artist who still maintains a studio there. “The energy was pretty clear those first couple months. For six months, we would have, like, 200 people coming through the door for every event.”

In its heyday, Fisher said, there was at least one show per month. “The first year was a pretty solid year,” he said.

That tapered off in the winter of 2013, by which time the collective energy was hard to rally.

“There was no bad blood between anyone,” said Fisher. “There was no specific thing that happened”—though old, bursting pipes didn’t help—“but the energy levels dropped for all of us.”

Moreover, he discovered that people in Harrisburg often prefer to stay home at night than go out.

“It’s ultimately easier not to do something than to do something,” said Fisher in reference to both the MakeSpace’s artists and its audience.

 

Unique Corner

When Rioux first visited Harrisburg in June 2014, his friends told him he should meet Laribee. They hit it off over coffee at Little Amps and, after he moved to Harrisburg, she took him on a tour of the MakeSpace. He soon took over management of the gallery space.

“We were here for the 3rd in the Burg opening, and I was trying to figure out how much initiative I could take in the space,” he said.

Laribee proposed selling him the LLC and putting the mortgage in his name. Rioux took ownership of the MakeSpace in October.

“I’m so glad that MakeSpace has found a new direction to take,” said Laribee, who, along with many of the artists who initially rented studios there, renovated the building. “MakeSpace has held a unique corner of the arts in Harrisburg. It will be so interesting to see the shapes it takes with new leadership.”

Similarly, artist Meisa Chase said she looks forward to seeing how Rioux drives the mission forward.

“With any project like this, it takes a lot of energy,” said Chase, who’s been with the MakeSpace since its inception. “It’s to be expected, since a lot of us are young, that the energy level will drop off. That’s very usual with artists.”

But it is that very energy that allows the MakeSpace to be agile enough to respond to the needs of those who want a hub for making art in Harrisburg.

“It’s changed,” Chase said. “It’s been free-form, and whoever wants to push it in any direction can.”

Rioux’s vision involves relieving the MakeSpace of having to run solely on collaborative energy and to establish some financial sustainability.

Besides fundraising, he wants to keep more consistent weekly hours so the eight artists who rent studios there have more opportunities for their work to be seen besides during 3rd in the Burg. Otherwise, Rioux is committed to the MakeSpace’s original mission, since it still addresses voids in the arts in Harrisburg.

“We are going to continue doing what the space does really well,” said Rioux. “D.I.Y. music shows. I’d like to get back to offering classes and workshops on a regular basis. Providing gallery space for local and regional artists to exhibit their work—those are the things that we’re already doing that I think we can double down on, do more consistently and do a better job of. I’ve already got the whole 2016 gallery season scheduled out.”

That is not to say there are not plans for expansion should everything come together. Rioux has several big ideas: practice space for bands, showcases for dancers, artists-in-residence and “secular Sunday”-style free lectures. But it is all in the service of helping people—as many people as possible—make art in Harrisburg.

“Harrisburg needs more opportunities for creative expression,” he said.

The MakeSpace is located at 1916 N. 3rd St., Harrisburg. For more information and a schedule of events, visit www.hbgmakespace.com.

 

Continue Reading