TSKW – A New Home to Worship Art in Key West

By some time next year, the former Masonic Lodge on 533 Eaton Street will become the new home for The Studios Key West! This inspired choice is rich in history and devotions with secret and exacting rituals of creation.

For those interested in particulars, here are the floor plans:

First Floor:  Which will become Key West’s largest exhibition space – 1450 sq ft . Phase One:

First Floor Plan : Phase 2 – Wine bar/cafe , box office, retail and info on arts in Key West.

Second Floor: 200 seat auditorium with professional lighting and sound for concerts & performances. All important bar that opens to lobby. Large scale & performance classes.

Third Floor : Nine artists studios for year round rental by local artists. Classroom studio for visual arts and “The Lab” for writers and designers equipped with state-of-the-art digital media tools.

 The  new TSKW logo obviously emulates the shape of the building. Clean and smart, combining the best of  modern, moderne, and art deco. Great image and if anyone knows who designed it, please let me know.

Walking up and down the stairways I followed wide-eyed artists patrons, dreamers and friends and despite the crowd,  ghosts waited for me everywhere I went. Evidence of ceremony and symbol were everywhere. Here are a few artifacts, lurking behind doors, in dark closets…

An old-fashioned directory:

Another  piece of art awash in symbol, symmetry and canon.

Someone left this behind …

And there’s always the truly inexplicable (rapidly becoming my personal favorite).

Who would have sat in the center chair? And why? And aren’t you just dying to tear up that old carpet and remove the wood paneling or strip it or paint or something?!  I wonder what this will look like in a year?

This is the beginning, the gorgeous old lodge, with winding staircases –  Here’s a view,  peering down from the third floor.

Insignia and a name removed from  the back of a chair.

The third floor space will be converted into nine artist studios and a modern media lab.

We watched a brief film chronicling the short and rich history of TSKW.

Beautifully attended by art lovers, all.

Studio artist, poet Maureen Tracy-Venti

Visual artist, Christie Fifer

Architect, abstract artist, Guillermo Orozco

Me, lucky enough to have a studio to write in.

Comedian & computer wunderkind,  Sean MacGuire.

No post on TSKW would be complete without unflappable Deputy Director Elena Devers who has managed to see TSKW through the many challenges and changes from infancy on.

Three of the many volunteers who have always had their work cut out for them and have always risen to the occasion.

And the fabulous Lucy, now a member of the board (I thought she always was).

The Joyous ribbon cutting ceremony began with talks by Rosi Ware, Board Chairman of TSKW, and Jedd Dodds, Executive Director, caught in a rare moment of role-reversal.

The ribbon cutting ceremony.

WooHoo!!!