Praxis, Brick and Ink House: the DIY (Art) World Revolution

ArtHopper.Org, October 21, 2015
by Lane Cooper

The experiment that is Waterloo is coming along nicely.

This past summer saw the addition of three new hubs of creative enterprise with the additions of Brick Ceramic + Design Studio, Praxis Fiber Workshop andZygote Press’s Ink House Annex.

These endeavors are multifaceted in what they represent, providing for instance a model for a different kind of approach to “development.” Rather than the traditional American model of bulldozing and “gentrifying,” Northeast Shores Community Development Corporation has taken a very different path, underwriting those who repurpose existing architectures and seek to become members of existing communities. This kind of model doesn’t just pay lip service to the benefits of a creative economy, it actually goes there, putting real skin in the game by providing the dollars to make it happen. The goal is to invigorate an area ripe with untapped resources, to seed revivals of the sort seen in places like Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Wilkinsburg, PA, just outside of Pittsburgh.

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