3068 Mt. Pleasant St. NW, the soon-to-be location for the Mt. Pleasant Temporium. Photo by Pat Padua.Early next year D.C. will get its second Temporium, a pop-up arts space, this time in Mt. Pleasant. The D.C. Office of Planning awarded a $15,000 grant as part of its Temporary Urbanism Initiative to “transform vacant storefronts or spaces into a unique temporary retail shop for local entrepreneurs to exhibit and sell their work.” The first Temporium on H Street NE was open last summer and welcomed over 1600 visitors.
The Mt. Pleasant Temporium was developed jointly by Mount Pleasant Main Street, SpeakeasyDC, Hello Craft, Radio CPR, Partners for Livable Communities, the DCOP and a few neighborhood community groups. As one might suspect with SpeakeasyDC high on that list, the theme will be storytelling, not just as a curatorial idea behind the local arts and crafts that will be for sale, but directly during nights of performances, craft workshops, and integrated events with local businesses. Hello Craft is in charge of bringing in the craft vendors, a its skill honed, among many places, through the annual Crafty Bastards festival.
With MidCity being labeled the D.C. Arts District – truly, the banners went up last week – the city seems to be placing a good bit of reliance on arts to revitalize local businesses. In the press release, Jessica Scheuerman of Mount Pleasant Main Street says, “The Temporium’s activity will highlight the retail potential and commercial viability of the Mt. Pleasant business corridor. We hope this project will become a change-maker in the community, not only through the promotion of the local economy, but also in re-igniting the neighborhood’s cultural heritage.”
The Mt. Pleasant Temporium will be at 3068 Mt. Pleasant St. NW and open for 24 to-be-announced dates during January and February.
