HABITABLE SPACES T R A G LIVIN By VAlerie BUStAMANte
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lison and Shane Heinemeyer were both living in an art collective in the middle of the fastpaced art world of New York City when they decided it was time for a change. Art needed a new meaning — and they were determined to find it. “Art becomes a commodity there, and both Shane and I felt that art should not be a commodity,” Alison said. “It should be something that everyone has access to. It shouldn’t be such a rarefied thing or specialty thing. It should be something that is in everyone’s life.” Alison moved from Florida to further her sculpting and performing art career, while Shane left San Antonio to finish his undergraduate at
Pratt Institute and further his painting career. The two moved to the Big Apple to be closer to the art scene just like many others. However, after living in the city for more than a decade, Alison said they began to wonder what was happening to the spaces people were leaving behind. “It’s like if everyone goes to these urban spaces to make art, but then what’s happening in the spaces they left,” she said. “Are there no artists there?” So the couple began brainstorming on what they could do. “We were living in an artist collective in New York, so we were thinking about collective spaces,” Alison said. “The initial idea was to create a space with tons of movement