HISTORY
A.P.E.'s original home
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Dance Generators; photo by Sondra Peron
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A.P.E. was founded in 1977 by and for artists. At its founding, it occupied the top floor of Thornes Market, a five-story renovated department store in the heart of downtown Northampton, Massachusetts. A.P.E.’s spaces were conceived of as “workspaces” for artists, largely determined by the creative needs of the Northampton community and tempered by the commitment of its founding director, Gordon Thorne, with the 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, separate from any economic return.
From 1977 to 2006 A.P.E. provided space for artists working in all disciplines and these projects, programs, and activities contributed to the city's artistic character and cultural impact for over four decades. A.P.E. has also always served as an "umbrella" or fiscal sponsor for a number of artists, art groups, and projects, including No Theater, Andrea Olsen/Dance Gallery, The Anchor House for Artists, and Cellblock Visions.
A.P.E. was an integral part of Thornes Market, managing, programming and maintaining 10,000 square feet of space loosely divided into performance, exhibition, studio and teaching areas.
The A.P.E./Thornes Market 'marriage' remained a successful working model for over two decades. Conceived as a project that would support small, local businesses as well as local and regional artists, the building generated enough income to cover its debt, capital improvements, operating costs, distribute cash to the partners, and provided them personal work and office space, all while contributing 20% of its leasable space rent free to the community and its artists through A.P.E.
The arts/business model developed at Thornes ultimately dissolved, as the partners were unable to create a mission for the building that would pass its success down to the next generation of owners. Unable to make a convincing case for the value that space for creative work contributed to the health and success of the building as a whole, negotiations for the sale of Thornes ultimately placed value only on the business success of the building, failing to recognize the ‘worth’ of A.P.E.’s presence in the building. When Thornes Market was sold in 2006, the A.P.E. spaces were converted to office and commercial 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 the building at 126 Main Street. In 2008, after extensive renovations, A.P.E. moved its operations into this new location. While the 126 Main Street building afforded A.P.E. a large and open storefront visual arts gallery, the building couldn’t accommodate an additional performance space.
Gordon’s work and research in community land trust movements and his engagement with the Schumacher Center for New Economics in Great Barrington, MA led him to a new way of thinking about the long-term protection of art spaces. Inspired by the model of land trusts, he began to conceive of a new entity – an arts trust – that would acquire buildings/spaces to create and hold creative space in perpetuity. This initiative led to formation of the Northampton Community Arts Trust, incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 2010 and to the eventual purchase of a building, 33 Hawley, which became the first project of the Trust.
33 Hawley is being renovated into a flexible use arts building and houses three long-standing local arts organizations: A.P.E., the Northampton Center for the Arts, and Northampton Open Media (NOM). Funds from local, state, federal grants, foundations and individual from the community have turned an old lumberyard into an energy efficient, well designed home for the arts. Seventeen years after losing its space at the top floor of Thornes Market, A.P.E. is now able to bring its performing arts programming back to a 3800 square foot Workroom/Theater,
From 1977 to 2006 A.P.E. provided space for artists working in all disciplines and these projects, programs, and activities contributed to the city's artistic character and cultural impact for over four decades. A.P.E. has also always served as an "umbrella" or fiscal sponsor for a number of artists, art groups, and projects, including No Theater, Andrea Olsen/Dance Gallery, The Anchor House for Artists, and Cellblock Visions.
A.P.E. was an integral part of Thornes Market, managing, programming and maintaining 10,000 square feet of space loosely divided into performance, exhibition, studio and teaching areas.
The A.P.E./Thornes Market 'marriage' remained a successful working model for over two decades. Conceived as a project that would support small, local businesses as well as local and regional artists, the building generated enough income to cover its debt, capital improvements, operating costs, distribute cash to the partners, and provided them personal work and office space, all while contributing 20% of its leasable space rent free to the community and its artists through A.P.E.
The arts/business model developed at Thornes ultimately dissolved, as the partners were unable to create a mission for the building that would pass its success down to the next generation of owners. Unable to make a convincing case for the value that space for creative work contributed to the health and success of the building as a whole, negotiations for the sale of Thornes ultimately placed value only on the business success of the building, failing to recognize the ‘worth’ of A.P.E.’s presence in the building. When Thornes Market was sold in 2006, the A.P.E. spaces were converted to office and commercial 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 the building at 126 Main Street. In 2008, after extensive renovations, A.P.E. moved its operations into this new location. While the 126 Main Street building afforded A.P.E. a large and open storefront visual arts gallery, the building couldn’t accommodate an additional performance space.
Gordon’s work and research in community land trust movements and his engagement with the Schumacher Center for New Economics in Great Barrington, MA led him to a new way of thinking about the long-term protection of art spaces. Inspired by the model of land trusts, he began to conceive of a new entity – an arts trust – that would acquire buildings/spaces to create and hold creative space in perpetuity. This initiative led to formation of the Northampton Community Arts Trust, incorporated as a 501(c)3 in 2010 and to the eventual purchase of a building, 33 Hawley, which became the first project of the Trust.
33 Hawley is being renovated into a flexible use arts building and houses three long-standing local arts organizations: A.P.E., the Northampton Center for the Arts, and Northampton Open Media (NOM). Funds from local, state, federal grants, foundations and individual from the community have turned an old lumberyard into an energy efficient, well designed home for the arts. Seventeen years after losing its space at the top floor of Thornes Market, A.P.E. is now able to bring its performing arts programming back to a 3800 square foot Workroom/Theater,
Gordon Thorne addresses the Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires annual meeting with a talk on the concept of a "Community Arts Trust". Gordon describes his evolution as an artist, developer, and executive director of a non-profit as it relates to shaping and maintaining healthy and diverse communities. He believes that arts spaces should be a part of the commons in perpetuity and performing arts spaces be made accessible and affordable to artists in the community.
Gordon Thorne, "Community Arts Trust". Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires annual meeting, February 2009 by Schumacher Center for a New Economics
https://archive.org/details/GordonThornecommunityArtsTrustFebruary2009_3
Gordon Thorne, "Community Arts Trust". Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires annual meeting, February 2009 by Schumacher Center for a New Economics
https://archive.org/details/GordonThornecommunityArtsTrustFebruary2009_3