The Venture Compound, a non-traditional performance space in St. Petersburg’s Warehouse Arts District, is radiating sound waves in the underground scene.
The living space, which doubles as a show space and triples as an art gallery, has hosted shows since December 2011, with six scheduled for September so far.
“It’s not a bar. We’re not having music so that people come in and buy beer. We’re having music to have music,” said Jesse Vance, co-creator of the venue.
Non-traditional and do it yourself show spaces draw artists and audiences who are grounded on an unapologetically independent ethos.
“Some of us are creating spaces that foster community and don’t operate solely on selling alcohol or acquiring assets for already quite comfortable, rich men,” said Neil Campau, founder for DoDIY.org.
Vance, 27, along with venue co-creator and roommate Traye McEnany, 28, found the warehouse after they were kicked out of their apartment near St. Petersburg College. The building has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a living area and a tiled kitchen, with a wide-open warehouse and fenced-in yard.
Vance already has experience booking shows, mostly avant-garde electronic music, at Fubar, Cafe Bohemia and others on Central Avenue. It wasn’t until after signing the lease on the warehouse space that the roommates realized they could easily put on shows in their home.
“We had no idea. We moved in here blind as a bat,” McEnany said.
The Venture Compound, located south of Central Avenue on the corner of 27th Street, is in a hybrid-industrial zone. Artists can live, run a business and have an art gallery out of their space in the district.
“We have no noise ordinances. Ever,” Vance said. “We could have a show right now. We could have a show at 5 in the morning.”
While Vance has booked shows over the year, high volumes of artists from as far as Los Angeles have reached out to bring shows to The Venture Compound. McEnany explains that the ability to rent out the space brings in a wider variety of music. Punk, electronic, math rock, performance art and even MCs have performed under the lights at the compound. All genres are welcome.
“Any music you like. Unless you like [bad] music,” Vance said.
Vance and McEnany recently made a room in their home an art gallery, which features one show a month.
The Compound’s art director, Bradley Kokay, 34, is interested in showcasing art from anyone, skilled or unskilled. He said some of the most interesting art is from people who aren’t trained or don’t consider themselves artists.
With this open-door policy, there are two standards: No art will be displayed that’s already been displayed at a show in St. Petersburg, and all art pieces for sale must have modest prices.
Modest means about $50, so all gallery visitors, normal people and college students, can take part in buying art specific to their tastes.
Kokay, Vance and McEnany have all adopted this method from seeing art pieces around town they liked, but were unable to afford.
“The problem with a lot of that art is it’s geared toward a very specific audience but that very specific audience is broke,” McEnany said.
Most recently, the gallery featured artworks by the late Norman Towle, a local artist who faithfully painted zany celebrity portraits and St. Petersburg cityscapes, among other subjects.
The gallery walls couldn’t hold all of Towle’s 180 paintings, so some were hung on the ceiling. A painting of Richard Nixon covered the window unit.
The plan was to sell Towle’s paintings for donation prices and give all proceeds to help Towle’s widow, Margaret, pay for medication costs.
In less than a month, half of the paintings were sold, raising over $300.
“That’s gonna be our thing. Affordable art,” Kokay said. “That was one thing we saw when we put on this Norman Towle show. It was kinda like a feeding frenzy.”
Inclusion of spectators is key to building excitement at an art show, Kokay explained. All art shows coincide with music shows, giving guests a wider range of things to do, and allowing younger spectators to avoid the “awkward” vibes they sometimes get at gallery showings.
Shows typically have a $5 cover, all BYOB, and fend-for-yourself parking.
The next show includes experimental and electronic music, including Andre Obin from Boston, as well as bands from Vero Beach and St. Petersburg.
