ELSEWHERE

We are from Greensboro, North Carolina, a city we have just recently come to appreciate for its (largely under-appreciated) art scene. Our mom spent the last year working with the contemporary art museum, the Weatherspoon, where she met a whole slew of "new" people who introduced us to the side of Greensboro we now love! The top of the list is a little place called Elsewhere. Today it's a living museum set within a former thrift store.

So the (much condensed)story goes...a lady called Sylvia Gray opened a thrift store on South Elm Street following the death of her husband. Basically, she collected far more than she sold and the store became inundated with things. Sylvia was notorious for selecting who she would sell to- apparently she would size you up as you walked in the door and would often deny certain people the honor of buying junk from her shop. She was also known for upping the marked price if you tried to bargain with her.

So in 2003(about 6 years after her death), George Scheer went down to his grandmother's old shop on South Elm Street and, with the help of his writer-buddies, turned the place into a gallery/ artist residency. The artists are free to do whatever the please during their residencies.... as long as they use ONLY objects found in the shop. Very cool.