Re-Store Design Challenge, coming this summer to your village?
Design teams will bring “enterprising” creativity to one hamlet’s empty storefronts
Strolling on any of our village Main Streets, we’ve all peeked into some charming but empty storefront, many with full length display windows and fun, old-fashioned architectural detail. And we’ve all played the game of “that would make a perfect (fill in the blank) store,” decorating those display windows with our imaginations.
For three design teams this summer, that storefront game will be a real life design challenge, and for one “enterprising” local village, its Main Street storefronts will be teeming with creativity, design expertise and lots of curious window shoppers.
“The Re-Store Design Challenge is the perfect collaboration to showcase some of our overlooked assets, including some under-utilized Main Street architecture and the top shelf designers and creatives who love the area and want to give something back,” said MARK Project director Peg Ellsworth.
The brainchild of designer and entrepreneur Andrew Williams, the Re-Store Design Challenge Rules are simple but exciting: local towns compete to host the challenge, and three design teams (including a leader, an artist, a builder and a local student), will each compete to “Re-Store” an empty store, with one month to conceptualize their project and only two days in late July to do all the work of installation.
If we dream it, will they build it?
The design challenge is much tougher than just making pretty window fronts. “The store has to be completely fitted out to a depth of 15 feet, with either real products that are donated or loaned, or products that are artistically represented,” said Williams. “The funding for the project includes a modest $1,000 stipend for the project work, which means, just like real entrepreneurs, part of the challenge is making every penny count and coming up with creative solutions to make our concept work.”
Once the “Re-store” village is chosen in early May, high school seniors from that town will be invited to compete to join a design team for the summer. For three lucky students, there will be two months of invigorating design work with successful creatives, artists and designers. “The student component is one of the most exciting aspects of the project,” said Ellsworth, adding, “For at least one of these young people, this could be the summer that blows through their expectations into an entire new realm of career possibilities.”
The “Re-Store” shops will be open every weekend in August for visitors and locals to tour and vote on their favorites. Those votes are weighed with those of a juried selection team and the winning “Re-Store” will be announced at a gala awards event around Labor Day.
Each of the three design team leaders have deep ties to the area and are actively involved in local arts organizations and the business community. Williams is a designer and principal with Cooper, Robertson & Partners, an architecture and urban design firm, and a long-time second homeowner and former proprietor of Public Lounge in Roxbury. The other two teams will be led by Donald Hill, a second homeowner who leads one of the premier interior design firms in New York City and has long been active in local arts organizations, and Sean Scherer, an artist who has exhibited internationally and now makes his home upstate. Scherer owns the Kabinett & Kammer, a contemporary “curiosity shop” in Andes, featuring antiques, art and collectibles.
Funded in part by MARK and the O’Connor Foundation, the hope is that Re-Store Design Challenge will become an annual event, with designers vying to lead teams next year. An annual event, that is, until Re-Store turns into “real store” and there are no more empty storefronts left to “play.” Follow the Re-Store Design Challenge on Facebook with updates about town selection and team members, or contact the MARK Project at 845 586-3500 for more information.
