The Werehouse
Encyclopedia
The Werehouse is an artist collective grown for one grand purpose: to provide Winston-Salem, NC and the world at large with a space to experience original and thought provoking art.
Now antiquated photographs show evidence of the 67 VW-sized turbines and motors which were removed to begin what is now the performance space on the ground floor. In these early years a house party atmosphere was the rule when nationwide touring artists like, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
, Will Oldham
and the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
dropped by.
. With 15 to 20 residents living on the second floor and in the basement, visiting artists Damo Suzuki
, Eugene Chadbourne
, Cat Power
, Melt Banana, Golden Dawn, The Barnstormers Art Collective and Lightning Bolt (among hundreds of other artists) discovered the house party atmosphere transformed but not forgotten. The end of this era saw fifteen members of the house pool their resources to buy and convert a 1971 GMC charter bus into a grease-powered Biodiesel
tour bus. Dubbed the Psychic Revolution / Invisible States tour, the fifteen participants offered the possibility of eight bands of eight different genres depending on what the locale required. Documented in the as yet unreleased film "Invisible States" (named taken from the performance artist in residence) this tour included such nonmusical but exotic American ports of call as Super Happy Funland, Arcosanti
, Sebago Lake
, The Wapakoneta
Temple Of Tolerance, and a few days in the middle of the desert.
. The room next to the gallery has become the Artist Space, where local artists pay nominal rent to share a creative space for painting, crocheting and sculpting. Krankies Coffee purchased local entrepreneur Maria's Coffee Roasting
business and retrofitted a corner for roasting 200 lbs of coffee a week. The recording studio
which over the years has cropped up in every corner of the building officially became Memorial Studios. Located in the basement next to the band practice space, several dozen artists have recorded there in the last two years; most notably USAISAMONSTER. And most recently the backlot has been resculpted to host a local organic Farmers' market
to fill the need for the growing population downtown.
Whether you prefer the tag intentional community
or artists collective, The Werehouse functions as an example of what people can do for themselves, their community and the world when they continue to find ways of working together. As member of Negativland
Mark Hosler
once said, "I've never seen anything like this stateside; this is more like a commune
in Europe."
Still flourishing after years of back breaking toil, fires, and countless other mishaps and misadventures, the Werehouse remains as close as possible to its original purpose: a residential collective that provides the Winston Salem community and the world at large with a space to experience original and thought provoking art.
Early years
The artists collective known as The Werehouse began with five young men squatting on the second floor of an abandoned meat packing plant. With a grand purpose in mind, the building was officially rented in 1996 and purchased soon thereafter. The spirit of the five pioneers, setting out to simply render the building livable by installing windows, doors, plumbing and wiring has continued to this day with a new metamorphosis each year. Evidence of the structure's original incarnation can be found in the 2 foot (0.6096 m) cork ceiling, a covered trough running along the east wall which was used for animal waste and the three small rooms stacked atop one another filling what was once the freight elevator.Now antiquated photographs show evidence of the 67 VW-sized turbines and motors which were removed to begin what is now the performance space on the ground floor. In these early years a house party atmosphere was the rule when nationwide touring artists like, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
, Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...
and the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
Bindlestiff Family Cirkus
The Bindlestiff Family Cirkus was founded in 1995 By Keith Nelson and Stephanie Monseu. Since then, they have toured the world with their mix of circus and sideshow...
dropped by.
PS211: The Second Incarnation
In 2002 an idea was put forward that the community could benefit from legitimizing the performance space under a non-profit heading. PS211, as it became known, ran for two years with the help of numerous community volunteers under a board of directors headed by several City Arts Council and SECCA representatives. As hoped, the space grew in diversity from the introduction of dance recitals, Kabarets, art auctions, chamber recitals and even weddings. During this time a concession stand was created for selling refreshments to the public, which became what is now Krankies CoffeehouseCoffeehouse
A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...
. With 15 to 20 residents living on the second floor and in the basement, visiting artists Damo Suzuki
Damo Suzuki
, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
, Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne
Eugene Chadbourne is an American improvisor, guitarist and banjoist. Highly eclectic and unconventional, Chadbourne's most formative influence is free jazz. He has also been a reviewer for Allmusic and a contributor to Maximum RocknRoll.Chadbourne started out playing rock and roll guitar, but...
, Cat Power
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...
, Melt Banana, Golden Dawn, The Barnstormers Art Collective and Lightning Bolt (among hundreds of other artists) discovered the house party atmosphere transformed but not forgotten. The end of this era saw fifteen members of the house pool their resources to buy and convert a 1971 GMC charter bus into a grease-powered Biodiesel
Biodiesel
Biodiesel refers to a vegetable oil- or animal fat-based diesel fuel consisting of long-chain alkyl esters. Biodiesel is typically made by chemically reacting lipids with an alcohol....
tour bus. Dubbed the Psychic Revolution / Invisible States tour, the fifteen participants offered the possibility of eight bands of eight different genres depending on what the locale required. Documented in the as yet unreleased film "Invisible States" (named taken from the performance artist in residence) this tour included such nonmusical but exotic American ports of call as Super Happy Funland, Arcosanti
Arcosanti
Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet...
, Sebago Lake
Sebago Lake
Sebago Lake is the deepest and second largest lake in the U.S. state of Maine. The lake is deep at its deepest point, with a mean depth of , covers about in surface area, has a length of and a shoreline length of . The surface is around above sea level, so the deep bottom is below the present...
, The Wapakoneta
Wapakoneta
Wapakoneta may refer to:People*Wapakoneta , a Shawnee chiefPlaces*Wapakoneta, Ohio, the home town of Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon*The Wapakoneta, Ohio Micropolitan Statistical Area...
Temple Of Tolerance, and a few days in the middle of the desert.
The Current Larvae
With the untimely demise of PS211 providing the fertilizer for the next evolutionary phase, the last few years have seen the seeds of many ideas sprout forth. The once familial interhouse movie nights became public film nights, featuring local and far-flung filmmakers. The fledgling art auctions have become the Electric Moustache Gallery which has provided a venue for artists as distant as CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The room next to the gallery has become the Artist Space, where local artists pay nominal rent to share a creative space for painting, crocheting and sculpting. Krankies Coffee purchased local entrepreneur Maria's Coffee Roasting
Coffee roasting
Roasting coffee transforms the chemical and physical properties of green coffee beans into roasted coffee products. The roasting process is what produces the characteristic flavor of coffee by causing the green coffee beans to expand and to change in color, taste, smell, and density...
business and retrofitted a corner for roasting 200 lbs of coffee a week. The recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
which over the years has cropped up in every corner of the building officially became Memorial Studios. Located in the basement next to the band practice space, several dozen artists have recorded there in the last two years; most notably USAISAMONSTER. And most recently the backlot has been resculpted to host a local organic Farmers' market
Farmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
to fill the need for the growing population downtown.
Whether you prefer the tag intentional community
Intentional community
An intentional community is a planned residential community designed to have a much higher degree of teamwork than other communities. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, or spiritual vision and often follow an alternative lifestyle. They...
or artists collective, The Werehouse functions as an example of what people can do for themselves, their community and the world when they continue to find ways of working together. As member of Negativland
Negativland
Negativland is an experimental music and sound collage band which originated in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1970s. They took their name from a Neu! song, while their record label is named after another Neu! song...
Mark Hosler
Mark Hosler
Mark Hosler is an American musician who is a founding member of the sound art collective Negativland.- Career :Through his public speaking, lectures and extensive interviews, he serves as the primary spokesperson for the group...
once said, "I've never seen anything like this stateside; this is more like a commune
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
in Europe."
Still flourishing after years of back breaking toil, fires, and countless other mishaps and misadventures, the Werehouse remains as close as possible to its original purpose: a residential collective that provides the Winston Salem community and the world at large with a space to experience original and thought provoking art.