Louisvillians too often don’t celebrate all there is to celebrate about this city.
We went all, well, ga-ga when Lady Gaga deigned to get paid to appear here earlier this month. But we seem less impressed with the community of creative artists in our midst, many of whom have chosen to come here from all over the world to settle and work.
They may get a bit more of their due this spring when Salvo opens in an abandoned church on South Shelby Street just off East Market. (Urban legend: It’s the church where young Cassius Clay learned to fight so he could avenge his stolen bike.)
The store, at 216 S. Shelby St., is shooting for a mid-to-late April opening – at the very latest, the May Gallery Hop (which takes place the Friday before Derby).
The building today.
The future home of Salvo at 232 S. Shelby St. circa 1920. (Photo courtesy of Gill Holland)
Salvo is not just another store – nor gallery, nor artists’ market, nor crafts fair. It’s a guild-like collective of local artists – woodworkers, carpenters, ceramicists, leather workers, glass blowers, jewelry makers, the whole gamut – who will make product for sale in the store.
The work will celebrate a grand Kentucky tradition of the classic 19th century furniture builders and artisans who made the region notable. Even though the merchandise is newly made, artists will use reclaimed, re-purposed material, much of it with a local story to tell.
“Someone can walk in and see a piece of furniture made with wood that might have been part of a farm or a factory in which their grandfather worked,” says Salvo’s creative director, Savannah Barrett.
Barrett has a substantial investment in this marketplace. Her full-time gig is educational programs manager for the Louisville Visual Arts Association.
In fact, Salvo will be largely dedicated to re-purposing wood and other materials – thus the name.
The list of artists and craftspeople includes woodworker Nathan Morgan, from Birmingham, England; jewelry-maker Marlon Obando Solano, a native of Nicaragua; leather workers Sue Schoefield and Oscar Parsons; glass-blower McKinley Moore; ceramicists Alex Adams and Glenn Asauskas; sculptors Matt Weir and Forest Boone; metalsmith Jamie MacPherson; and textiles artist C.J. Pressma, who creates quilts imprinted with his photography – and that’s only a partial list.
They all have followings here in town. Now they’ll have an outlet to show and sell their work.
All the pieces are high-quality and high-end, but woodworker Morgan insists part of the approach will be affordability and accessibility: “It’s a chance for people to gain beautifully made, artistic pieces for their homes, but all reasonably priced.”
And, Morgan says, there will be the chance to obtain custom-made items.
“If someone sees a table she likes but would prefer a different leg, we’ll do that,” he says. “If someone thinks she’d like to combine the glass work of one artist with the metalwork of another artist, we’ll do that.”
So not only will Salvo connect with the modern “Green” 21st century effort led by Gill Holland to create East Market Street as an urban dining, strolling, browsing and shopping destination, but it will also connect with Kentucky’s 19th century heritage.
“Much of our culture is about rural weavers and craftsmen who sewed their own clothes, made their own furniture, even built their own houses,” says Barrett. “That’s the cultural feel you’ll get at Salvo.”
Nu to NuLu: Salvo unites local craftspeople, salvaged materials and Kentucky traditions
Louisvillians too often don’t celebrate all there is to celebrate about this city.
We went all, well, ga-ga when Lady Gaga deigned to get paid to appear here earlier this month. But we seem less impressed with the community of creative artists in our midst, many of whom have chosen to come here from all over the world to settle and work.
They may get a bit more of their due this spring when Salvo opens in an abandoned church on South Shelby Street just off East Market. (Urban legend: It’s the church where young Cassius Clay learned to fight so he could avenge his stolen bike.)
The store, at 216 S. Shelby St., is shooting for a mid-to-late April opening – at the very latest, the May Gallery Hop (which takes place the Friday before Derby).
The building today.
The future home of Salvo at 232 S. Shelby St. circa 1920. (Photo courtesy of Gill Holland)
Salvo is not just another store – nor gallery, nor artists’ market, nor crafts fair. It’s a guild-like collective of local artists – woodworkers, carpenters, ceramicists, leather workers, glass blowers, jewelry makers, the whole gamut – who will make product for sale in the store.
The work will celebrate a grand Kentucky tradition of the classic 19th century furniture builders and artisans who made the region notable. Even though the merchandise is newly made, artists will use reclaimed, re-purposed material, much of it with a local story to tell.
“Someone can walk in and see a piece of furniture made with wood that might have been part of a farm or a factory in which their grandfather worked,” says Salvo’s creative director, Savannah Barrett.
Barrett has a substantial investment in this marketplace. Her full-time gig is educational programs manager for the Louisville Visual Arts Association.
In fact, Salvo will be largely dedicated to re-purposing wood and other materials – thus the name.
The list of artists and craftspeople includes woodworker Nathan Morgan, from Birmingham, England; jewelry-maker Marlon Obando Solano, a native of Nicaragua; leather workers Sue Schoefield and Oscar Parsons; glass-blower McKinley Moore; ceramicists Alex Adams and Glenn Asauskas; sculptors Matt Weir and Forest Boone; metalsmith Jamie MacPherson; and textiles artist C.J. Pressma, who creates quilts imprinted with his photography – and that’s only a partial list.
They all have followings here in town. Now they’ll have an outlet to show and sell their work.
All the pieces are high-quality and high-end, but woodworker Morgan insists part of the approach will be affordability and accessibility: “It’s a chance for people to gain beautifully made, artistic pieces for their homes, but all reasonably priced.”
And, Morgan says, there will be the chance to obtain custom-made items.
“If someone sees a table she likes but would prefer a different leg, we’ll do that,” he says. “If someone thinks she’d like to combine the glass work of one artist with the metalwork of another artist, we’ll do that.”
So not only will Salvo connect with the modern “Green” 21st century effort led by Gill Holland to create East Market Street as an urban dining, strolling, browsing and shopping destination, but it will also connect with Kentucky’s 19th century heritage.
“Much of our culture is about rural weavers and craftsmen who sewed their own clothes, made their own furniture, even built their own houses,” says Barrett. “That’s the cultural feel you’ll get at Salvo.”