Lotta Artists

Compare and contrast. A photo taken in September 2005, on the weekend of the first Lowell Open Studios that Western Avenue Studios participated in. The building had started in July 2005 with 35 or so artists on the 5th floor. And that was it. None of the other floors had been built out yet.

The second photo was taken at the beginning of October in 2009. There are over 200 artists in the building. There are 143 studios spread out among 6 looooong hallways. We have a co-op gallery. We have a goal: raise $2Million to put a down payment on the building so it will remain artist-occupied in perpetuity. And we have lots and lots of people.

For one thing, our faces are a lot smaller in the 2009 photo. And I had to stand on a ladder to take the picture, rather than putting people up a ladder. Heh.

Thanks again, John Greenwald, for pushing us to do the first picture - a historic moment! - and for pushing us to do the second picture 4 successful years later.

Oh, and here's a link I'm often asked for: Megpix:WesternAve
That's the link to pictures I took of the inside of Western Ave while many of the industrial machines were still in situ.