Volunteer for Artwalk September 9th and 10th!

Birmingham Artwalk, set for September 9 &10 is celebrating our 15 years of transforming downtown Birmingham into a walkable art gallery in STYLE! But, we need your help to make it the best year yet. Sign up TODAY to volunteer for a short shift at Birmingham Artwalk and you'll get a FREE ticket to our Artwalk After Party, featuring Matthew DeVine and a stellar cast of Birmingham's musical talent! Plus, food and drinks to thank you for your time over the weekend!

Sign up here!

Come to Artwalk this Weekend!

Artwalk is an arts festival that transforms Birmingham's loft neighborhood into an arts district, featuring the work of more than 100 visual artists, live musicians, street performers, food and drink vendors, and children's activities.

The event is free to the public and in the last three years has become a much anticipated fall event drawing visitors from all over to downtown Birmingham. For the past two years, more than 10,000 people walked the streets of downtown during the two-day event.

Through the good will of area businesses and the work of a dedicated staff of volunteers, Artwalk hosts established and emerging regional artists in the unique and architecturally rich setting of downtown Birmingham. Art lovers will see original work in all mediums priced from the affordable to the extravagant. Participating artists are predominantly from Birmingham and surrounding communities, showcasing the wealth of regional talent.

People of all ages can enjoy being downtown at a safe, family-friendly, community event. Friday night has been compared to a huge gallery opening with a street festival atmosphere, while Saturday afternoon caters more to the family crowd with special children's activities.

-From Artwalk's website. For more information, including a list of Artists and Musicians performing, go to Artwalk's website at http://www.birminghamartwalk.org/

All New! All Different! Electrical Outlets!

More and more clients are using their spaces here at 2nd Avenue Storage as more than just a place to put their old furniture and clothes. The western hall is quickly turning into Artists' Row, with more and more people using our units as studios. We have hosted painters, illustrators, mixed media artists, woodworkers, and even a personal recording studio. We have one customer whose home office got too big for his home and set up shop inside a 9x9 unit (we offer wi-fi for a $10/month adder). We're especially excited about our newest customer who will be teaching piano lessons out of her storage unit. Should I keep calling them "storage" units? Maybe I need to change the name to 2nd Avenue Studio Spaces.

With all the new activity, we decided that Artists' Row needed some electrical outlets. Previously anyone needing electricity had to string an extension cord down to the lonely single outlet by the bathroom. No longer! We just added outlets down the eastern wall. 

If you need a space at 2nd Avenue Studio Spaces (or have suggestions on a better name) give us call at 205-332-1624.

Works every time...

The #DeckTheHam contest

I entered the #decktheham window painting contest that Birmingham Artcrawl sponsored on 2nd Avenue this year. To vote for me Retweet, Share, or Repost and make sure to include #decktheham. Thanks!

Here's my window painting:

Art Studios Now Available at 2nd Ave Storage

Billie Dupree, of @MediaOkra fame, was looking for an affordable studio space, preferably downtown. I suggested that she transform one of 2nd Avenue Storage's storage units into a working studio. We have electricity, a utility sink, and it is air conditioned. Billie decided to give it a try and so far she's loving it, and we're loving having her here!

Here are some pictures of her studio space. Note that we only post pictures and reveal tenants' names if they specially give us permission, and Billie said "go for it!"

Billie described her new studio: "Because I'm happy! Like a room without a roof! I can sing that because I now have a private working art studio at 2nd Avenue North Storage in the heart of the Loft district! Thank you Wade Smith for the suggestion! I can now reclaim my kitchen and dining area back at home!"

Catch MediaOkra's next show at the Joy Gallery. Opening reception is July 6th 1-3pm. Show is on exhibit through July 30.

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Sloss Painting

Even after two years, I've still only hung a single piece of art in my loft. I've been overly selective about what I wanted in there. The enormous scale of the place with the large open main area and 18.5 foot ceilings dwarf almost any painting. The loft is already full of wood, metal, brick and other busy textures, so anything but the simplest paintings can look cluttered. A while back, The Accordion Player rescued a giant canvas from an unnamed location. I'm not sure what inspired us to finally do something with it, but I eventually came up with a picture in my head that I thought would compliment the entire loft. We set to work, and here is the result:

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Smile! You're on Camera

We installed security cameras around the building. 2nd Avenue Storage runs unmanned several hours a day and we wanted our tenants' belongings to be as safe as possible, monitor traffic, and be able to see what was happening remotely. All feeds can be viewed on the TV screen in my loft. To notify customers they were on camera, we made some signs. Honestly, self storage is boring, and people associate it with an unpleasant chore, so I try to make it easy to use and less boring than other storage facilities. Keeping with this idea, I didn't want to buy off the shelf signs, so the accordion player and I put on our creative caps and painted some signs of our own. I think they were a success, because everyone that sees them smiles. And smiling is the point: they're on camera.

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