The Grant, at 250 Main St. in Pawtucket, is helping artist Joanne Luongo realize her dream of operating a gallery that artists can rent out to show their work for as little as $60 per week.
Though the Paper Girls Studio and Art Gallery is only 200 square feet, including a small work space separated by a wall, Luongo said that she expects big things to come of it – that artists will sell their work for a profit, and she’ll make connections to further her own artistic career.
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For the past seven years, the mixed-media sculptor has worked on and off out of her home. She was one of the first potential tenants to approach J. Hogue and Mike Lozano, owners and developers of the 21,000-square-foot, miniature-Arcade-like building in downtown Pawtucket.
“Her idea really fit that particular space,” Hogue said. “She fits in well, because some of the tenants already expressed that they want to curate a show in her space.”
That is exactly the type of collaborative spirit Hogue and Lozano hope to capture with The Grant, which opened this month in a century-old former department store in the heart of downtown Pawtucket.
They purposely chose a mix of tenants that would complement one other, Hogue said, because they want The Grant to act as an incubator for design and arts-related businesses.
Hogue, a graphic designer, conceived the idea based on his own experience of working in a mill space in Pawtucket and feeling isolated from the rest of the world. He thought that, if a group of design businesses could exist in the same space, the opportunities for referrals of clients and collaboration on projects would be endless.
The Grant’s tenants so far include four graphic design firms – among them Hogue’s Highchair designhaus – and an interior designer, a toy designer, an ad agency, a recording and production studio, three poster designers/silkscreen printers, a specialty gift store, a furniture store, a café and a nonprofit weaving studio for people with developmental disabilities.
Hogue said he originally wanted only designers, but then he saw the benefits of a little diversity. For example, interior designer Jessica Hill, of Studio Hill, could benefit from having access to the Zoo, which sells vintage furniture.
“There’s definitely a need for this collaborative kind of space, to get these sole proprietors out of their homes and into their own space,” said Lozano, who is also director of real estate development for Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services in Providence. “There’s definitely a demand. … We had all the space committed before we were even halfway through the construction process.”
Reasonable rents also helped. The building cost Hogue and Lozano about $430,000, and the renovations, when completed within a few months, are expected to cost about $220,000. Lozano said the rents range from $8 to $15 per square foot, depending on the location in the building and the quality of the space.
“If this building were in Providence, we would not be able to offer the rents we are offering to people,” Hogue said.
Alyssa Zelman, of Alyssa Zelman Design, said the rent is much cheaper at The Grant than at buildings she looked at on the East Side of Providence.
But it was the collaborative atmosphere that really attracted her. Zelman said she anticipates the graphic designers will help one other with technical production issues and software problems. More important, she said, she hopes they can serve as a sounding board for ideas.
Hogue said he doesn’t anticipate competition between the designers, because each caters to a specific niche in the market.
Luongo, the sculptor, said she’s already made valuable connections at The Grant. She found a new place to show her work through Limen Creative designer Josie Morway, an artist who exhibits in rehabbed mansions in South Providence as part of “Project Digs,” an art show organized by Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services.
