Page 31 - Demo

Liz Steiner used to craft her paper and metal creations from the spare room in her apartment, not an ideal space for intricate work that can require special equipment. Lindsay Koontz is a sculptor, but she also originally did her artwork out of her home — in the kitchen or anywhere she could find the space to create.
Today both artists, along with sculptor Jordan Parah and painter Darlene Williams, are creating together in an innovative space inside A Time For Science on Dickinson Avenue in Greenville. Parah hopes that the shared studio space will provide enhanced exposure for local artists as well as new opportunities for connections between the various players in the local arts community.
Originally founded as the Dirty LAM by local artists Laura Wood, Autumn Brown and Matt Amante, the studio changed hands to Parah, a 2014 graduate of East Carolina University with a BFA in sculpture and a minor in art history, late in 2017. She believes that her own work, and her enjoyment of her life as an artist, has benefited from the rich community within the studio space.
“We all work together, we all put in ideas,” she said. “If somebody comes up with a new idea, we talk about it. We just throw it out there, we have a studio meeting, have a little wine, and talk. It’s great. We say it’s a place where diversity comes together, and that’s all we can hope for.”
Parah, who specializes in small- and large-end metal sculpture and has works on display outside the Greenville Museum of Art and in other locations around town, is eager to find local arts patrons who can visit their studio and help the artists meet their goal of a larger, permanent location in the next few years. Dreams for the larger place include classes for both youth and adults, regular exhibits and available space for ECU arts majors and other artists who want to show their work.
“Greenville lost about four different exhibition spaces in about two years,” she said. “Students at ECU, they all have to do an exit show, and now they’re really limited on where they can show. We would love to be a resource for them.”
Prior to their move their current location, the four artists and several others worked out of Studio 9 on 9th Street, but when circumstances changed with that building a partnership between ECU, the Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge, the City
of Greenville and A Time For Science opened a new door. The connections between the entities will allow collaborations — like artists teaching ECU students inside the space or shows involving Emerge artists. One of the four artist spaces will be an artist-in-residency, tied to the ECU art school, with a new person rotating in every year.
Steiner moved into the 9th street studio in March of 2018, and right away she had an advantage over her previous cramped workspace — an area perfectly suited to the unique tools and materials she uses to create jewelry, handmade books and more. “I have a torch, I don’t have a settling tank yet,” she said. “In this place, I’ll be able to solder, I’ll be able to do all of that sort of stuff that’s not appropriate for a third floor condo. I can get dirtier, I can get messier, I can get louder than I could at home.” The Time For Science location, which is a converted garage with huge windows and bay doors, is even roomier.
The studio will be open from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. every day, Parah said, allowing people who come to the Dickinson Avenue to visit the restaurants and breweries to take an artistic side trip. Visitors will be able to see finished work exhibited and watch the artists work — an opportunity that adds an important cultural component to one of Greenville’s most vibrant areas.
Representing a variety of disciplines including painting, fiber, mixed media and paper art, the individuals working within A Time For Science have become a creative collective — a remedy for the stereotypical image of an isolated artist, working for hours on end alone. For Parah, Steiner, Williams and Koontz, the studio space they have been given, with a host of community partners standing behind them, is a work of art in itself.
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“WE ALL WORK TOGETHER, WE ALL PUT IN IDEAS...IT’S GREAT. WE SAY IT’S A PLACE WHERE DIVERSITY COMES TOGETHER, AND THAT’S ALL WE CAN HOPE FOR.”