MEET OUR COMMUNITY
could make of a life out in the countryside, we knew from the outset that we wanted to create a multipurpose space capable of accommodating a wide range of activities. With this in mind as we designed our home, we made half of the house a large open room that we call The Storehouse.
Penny Duff & Michael Slaboch
from The Storehouse in Galien, MI Tell us about The Storehouse! The Storehouse is a platform focused on intimate, casual gatherings. The premise is simple: invite people over, ask them to bring a dish and a bottle to share and cash for the artists, and infuse the space with community, art, and a sense of ease. We find that house concerts are a perfect vehicle for these goals. We started the project in the summer of 2014, when we purchased a wasted acre of land in Galien, Michigan. As we embarked on a multi-year project to restore this patch of land and see what we
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Since New Year’s Day 2017, we’ve hosted cultural events at our home and elsewhere within the community in collaboration with institutional partners and local businesses. Featuring concerts with musicians from around the world, multidisciplinary art exhibitions, epic community meals, and conversations with some of our favorite thinkers and makers, our Storehouse-curated events create a space for exploration and new connections in our little corner of the world. You are collaborating with Ox-Bow for the first time this year as curator of our new Summer Benefit concert. Why do you think it’s important or valuable for local or regional businesses to be in partnership? Many years ago, we read an interview with Rebecca Solnit in which she stated: “I still think the revolution is to make the world safe for poetry, meandering, for the frail and vulnerable, the rare and obscure, the impractical and local and small . . .” And though this was likely just some offhand comment by Solnit, it really resonated with us and the worldview that has guided many decisions about how we live our life. Whenever possible we work hard to prioritize operating at this very small, local level in everything that we do, and that has taken us in some very unexpected directions. There are so many talented, super-passionate people in Southwest Michigan working every day to develop their crafts, and there is a tremendous enthusiasm for collaboration. Just as with the slow/local food movement, we are very inspired by the different ways that collaborations between local businesses, organizations, and individuals can convey new things about the
Jamie Kelter Davis
