When Kristine and Robert Witherspoon and their two children moved out of their Clarkston home in December 2015, they knew they wanted to put the space to good use since they weren’t selling it.
They created Square Mile Gallery, a space they hope will become a community hub for their beloved city's diverse population.
Since refugee Asylum programs recognized Clarkston as a good residential space for refugees and immigrants in the 1990s, the city has been a blend of various cultures and backgrounds.
Kristine Witherspoon hopes to attract as many of Clarkston’s nearly 7,500 residents, according to a 2010 census, as possible. Additionally, she wants visitors from nearby cities to also attend Square Mile Gallery’s first event on April 16.
“We have probably thousands of bikers going by on any given day. We hope to capture those people that live in town that are going to Stone Mountain and back and create a sort of rest stop for them,” Witherspoon said. “[We’re] trying to blend these cultures that have not mingled before.”
Dubbed a "yart sale," or a yard and art sale, local artists will display and sale their work during the event.
From repurposed items that will be as inexpensive as 50 cents to artwork that will cost hundreds of dollars, Square Mile Gallery founders say there will be something for everyone to purchase.
“This space represents a lot of possibilities,” Witherspoon said. “Having a space that is open to many ideas of what art is and what community represents, and what creativity looks like is what Square Mile Gallery is.”
French-speaking theatre group Théâtre du Rêve (Theater of the Dream), African dancers and Bhutanese performers are included in the live entertainment lineup for this event.
Snack on Girl Scout cookies to support a local Girl Scouts club, enjoy beverages from Refuge Coffee or drink lemonade from a stand run by children from the Indian Creek Elementary School and International Community School as you view art throughout the day.
King of Pops will also be on site. Customers who buy an item from them will receive a piece of artwork created by a local child and King of Pops will also donate one of their popular treats to someone else.
Although Witherspoon and her family lived in their Clarkston house from 1999 until moving out in December, she grew up in New York. The daughter of a German immigrant, a strong childhood memory for her was finding Swastikas on her school desk and notebooks in middle school.
“I grew up in a town that was the opposite of Clarkston in western New York,” she said. “It was a very nice place to grow up in that it felt very safe and as a kid I could go and play on the street with all of my friends. But people were not really open-minded about things from other cultures as much.”
While this negative memory remains, so do the memories of the people who helped her family.
“What stood out to me was the people that gave [my mother and grandmother] a chance and gave them an opportunity, and said ‘hey I value you as a person,’” Witherspoon said. “I think this is what [Square Mile Gallery] is all about, connecting with people on the basic structures of what makes us human.”
Kristine and Robert Witherspoon have teamed up with Clarkston Community Center’s Andrea Waterstone, resident Carlos Moore, Indian Creek Elementary School art teacher Zully Conde and others, to make Square Mile Gallery a reality. While this space is already a community effort, the Witherspoons are hoping to get more involvement in the future, too.
The founders are hoping this weekend’s event will be the first of many in the space.
They’d like to eventually host regular cooking classes in the home’s kitchen.
“Our local women who are skilled in the art of creating fine dishes from their home countries can then bring it to westerners and others who simply want to taste and learn how to cook more ethnically-infused cuisine,” Waterstone said.
Square Mile Gallery founders said they are in the process of applying to be recognized as a 501(c)(3).
If You Go: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. April 16. Corner of North Indian Creek and Rowland Street in Clarkston. Free admission. Facebook.com.
