A Space to Create Public Space One, the north side nonprofit, is home to numerous artistic endeavors that engage with many different mediums and minds. We caught up with the arts organization’s co-directors to find out more about what it means to “go public with creativity,” and what’s in store for PS1’s future. BY ABBY THOMAS | PHOTOGRAPHS BY ZAK NEUMANN
WELCOME TO ALL Public Space One is a place where anyone can come and be creative. Dreamwell Theatre, the Center for Afrofuturist Studies, and other initiatives are all housed within the nonprofit.
FALL + WINTER 2016-17 |
DOWNTOWN
On the north side, right up the alley from some of Iowa City’s best, is a hidden gem. Down a flight of stairs, in the basement of the Wesley Center, lives the allin-one art organization known as Public Space One. “We want it to make Iowa City a place where people want to live and be artists,” says Public Space One (PS1) co-director, Kalmia Strong. So far, that’s exactly what PS1 has done. In 2003, when a group of graduate theater students working under the umbrella of “the James Gang” (a local
nonprofit incubator) sought a community space that championed creativity, they started PS1. Since then, the organization has evolved from a mostly student venue above the Deadwood, into an artist-run, comprehensive community space. It is a gallery where both national and local artists show work, a press co-op where community members learn printing and bookmaking processes, a venue where touring hardcore bands perform, a place where long-term collaborative projects evolve, and, most importantly, a space 27