Mission & History

Mission

Available Potential Enterprises, Ltd. exists to support contemporary artists working in all disciplines, by preserving and supporting the spaces in which they create, perform and exhibit their work.

A.P.E.'s History

Founded in 1977 by and for artists, A.P.E. is a not for profit, 501 C-3 whose programs in dance, theater, visual arts, spoken word, multimedia, movement and arts education have helped to define and create the city's artistic character for three decades.  A.P.E.  also serves as an "umbrella"/fiscal agent for a number of artists and art groups.

A.P.E. is committed to preserving "working space" for the arts in  the center of town, easily accessible to artist and audience alike, and to supporting the development of challenging, experimental and notable work, both within and outside the mainstream. 

A.P.E. receives funding from box office receipts, sales of artwork, individual donors, corporate, local and state funding and in-kind contributions.
From 1976 thru 2006,  A.P.E. occupied the top floor of  Thornes Market, a five story renovated department store in the heart of downtown Northampton, Massachusetts.

A.P.E. was conceived primarily as a workspace for artists. It was envisioned as a partnership between revenue generating local businesses and
non-revenue-generating open space. Its "shape" was largely determined by the creative needs of the Northampton community. This shape was tempered by the strong commitments of its directors to the creative process, and their understanding that space, time, and protection from economic pressure are critical for the realization of new and original work. A.P.E. has always insisted that the work of creating is valuable in and of itself, and separate from economic return. As such, it must stay connected to the performance and exhibition of work and central and accessible to community.

The A.P.E./THORNES 'marriage' was a successful working model. It not only covered all its debt, capital improvements, operating costs, distributed cash to the partners, and provided them personal work and office space, as well as contributing 20%  of its leasable space rent free to the community through A.P.E.  The model ultimately failed however, when the partners were unable to build into the mission of the business a way to pass its success down to the next generation of owners. Unable to make a convincing case for the valuable role that space for creative exploration played in the health and success of the whole building, in the end, they only passed down the building's success as a business, and in this classic economic model, A.P.E. was "worthless."

When A.P.E. was an integral part of THORNES Market it managed, programmed and maintained 10,000 square feet of space loosely divided into performance, exhibition, studio and teaching areas. Because A.P.E.'s founding Director was also one of the owners of the building, A.P.E. was able to survive the escalating real estate values which, in the past 30 years, have forced most artists and Art spaces to re locate outside of Northampton.

When THORNES Market was sold in 2006, the A.P.E. spaces were converted to office use and an important performance, exhibition, and creative work space was lost to the community.

In 2007 Gordon Thorne, one of the original owners of Thornes, and the founding director of A.P.E., used proceeds from the sale of THORNES to purchase another building at 126 Main street.

In 2008, after extensive renovations, A.P.E. moved its office into this new location.

A.P.E.'s new incarnation at Window

The history and evolution of THORNES Market, as a community, was similar to the history of many small communities which are allowed to grow more or less organically, in that it often reflected, in the processes of collective civilization as it continually transforms itself, sometimes imperceptibly, sometimes dramatically.

The intentional marriage of creative space to business space, a core of THORNES' mission for thirty years, has become a standard device for jump starting gentrification in undeveloped communities.

The eventual and seemingly inevitable divorce, as art space is replaced by retail, office and condominium space is also a familiar process today. A.P.E. has not escaped this transformation process.

A.P.E. currently occupies the five floors of a building called Window. It is  just down the block from THORNES at 126 Main Street and the front is one large storefront - window.

There are many programs and processes from A.P.E.'s past incarnation that will not easily fit the scale and configuration of the new spaces. Performance and exhibition will need to find new forms. There is a far greater exposure to the public with Window's glass wall to Main street which, while it opens up many new possibilities for interaction, also  impacts the essential inner focus of much creative work.

We are experimenting, and as in the past, taking the time to understand the new building, and allow the new spaces and programs to build and take shape from the inside out.

Round House Art  

A.P.E. is continuing the pursuit of  two linked initiatives from its final days at THORNES, driven by the dubious evolution of Northampton from Best small arts town, to Best town to shop in, to Best town to retire in.

A.P.E. is studying the feasibility of converting a local landmark building, 'The Round House', to a multi-use art space / black box theater. This initiative grew out of A.P.E.'s realization that initial attempts to preserve the programs and spaces at THORNES would not be successful. The project is being funded by a Feasibility and Technical Assistance Grant from the Cultural Facilities Fund of the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and MassDevelopment.

A.P.E. believes that to create a sustainable future for the arts in Northampton, a new support structure must be formed.  This support structure would insure the long-term protection of the city's remaining arts spaces, secure new space, and replace valuable space like the top floor of THORNES, which has been converted to office use. 

See more about Round House Art in Programs/ Project/Initiatives.

Northampton Community Arts Trust

A.P.E. in conjunction with 'The Round House Project',  is currently exploring the creation of an 'urban' community arts trust (CAT) that would provide for the arts the type of support that land trusts currently provide for local farms and affordable housing initiatives, and that broad-based taxation provides for other important cultural enterprises.  The Northampton Community Arts Trust would create a bridge between the cultural economy and the market economy that both recognizes the currently understood value of the cultural economy for the market economy, and addresses the fact that the cultural economy is not based on commodity exchange, and its value is not accurately measured by money.

See more about Northampton Community Arts Trust in Programs/ Projects/Initiatives

 New Directions 

First Floor Main Street:
A.P.E. has used its ground floor exhibition space to bring several interesting collaborative projects (projects which would normally not have public exposure), into the light of day on Main Street.

The Northampton Design Forum hosted an open design project organized by Philip Bess  and a group of Notre Dame University graduate architecture students, and the gallery space became a drafting studio for a week, open to the public.

A.P.E. hosted "X=", a site specific project which brought four mathematicians and twelve artists together in the space for four days of exploration.