My current project was inspired by Shelter in Place Gallery in Boston, MA. https://www.shelterinplacegallery.com/

It is a 1:12 scale model of a small art gallery lit with natural light. Artists submit original small scale works via email. Accepted works are delivered to the gallery. They are staged, photographed, and returned. Photos of the installations are posted on social media for a one-week cycle then archived on the web. It is limited to artists from the Boston area.

I want to do a similar project in the Triangle area with some significant differences. I want to build a 1:12 scale model gallery roughly patterned after the original Carrack Fine Art on Parrish Street in Durham. There will be at least four complete modular walls enclosing a 48’ x 24’ space with 14’ interchangeable ceilings, one with rafters and skylights, the other a traditional ceiling. Both would accommodate track lighting. There will be one long brick wall, one heavily fenestrated short wall, and two plaster/sheet rock walls. Any wall can be removed for photographing the other three walls. There will be alternative long walls with windows so the gallery can use natural light when desired. Otherwise miniature LED lights will illuminate the work.

I see this work as political. In the process of making the gallery, I am also creating a parallel fictional narrative and miniature construction site scenarios that I post online with an invitation to visit the site. It is an acknowledgement of the appeal of constructions sites for exploration and the recognition that doing so is done at greater risk if you are black. It is an homage to Ahmaud Arbery and includes numerous references to him.

The gallery also represents a democratization of opportunity in support of artists. I envision inclusive representation in the selection of artists and jurors. All works will be for sale with the artists getting most if not all the proceeds.

There is more information in the text on the website for the project