A ‘FUN’CTIONAL GARAGE BOOSTS THE DELRAY ART SCENE



A ‘FUN’CTIONAL GARAGE BOOSTS THE DELRAY ART SCENE
(Delray Beach, Fla.) -
Leave it to downtown Delray to find a way to make even a lame parking garage ‘funky’.  It’s a contradiction that deserves to be noticed.  Wedged right in the midst of the Pineapple Grove Arts District is a place called ‘Arts Garage’.
You might call Arts Garage the cornerstone of a great urban idea.
Anyone who’s been to downtown Delray on a busy weekend knows parking can be a challenge, but having Atlantic Avenue’s backstreets lined with utilitarian garages to house those crowds would just ruin the whole reason people love to wander the streets and explore the shops and restaurants.
Arts Garage offers a chance to get off the beaten path and have a different kind of night on the town.
The building is on the corner of Northeast 1st Street and 2nd Avenue, just a stone’s throw from Old School Square.  You might only notice it because of the giant “P” and the arrow pointing you to park.  On top it is just that, layers of parking.  But below it’s an evolving space for musicians, actors and artists of all genres to bloom.
Arts Garage provides music and theatre classes for kids and adults during the week, the walls are lined with colorful paintings, and it has become a way to squeeze some culture into local entertainment options.
The Arts Garage monthly calendar of events is always changing and the walls appear to move with the schedule.  In May, it includes a jazz pianist and band, a blues band, a choral group, a group that mixes an afro-Cuban sound with Latin jazz, and a presentation of ‘Footloose’ by their own youth drama troupe.
The box office manager, Nicole Escalera described the events as, “B.Y.O.-Whatever.”  She said people enjoy the shows sitting at tables and come with their own sushi, sandwiches, wine, or desserts to enjoy.  The stage is small and the room is intimate.  Floor to ceiling curtains wrap the audience together for the variety of cultural experiences that unfold inside each month.
In April, Arts Garage celebrated its 2nd anniversary with a fundraising gala.  The future for Arts Garage seems bright; just a few months ago Executive Director Alyona Ushe accepted a $50,000 grant for Arts Garage from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.   Ticket sales along with donations and city funding help keep the non-profit venue in business.

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