A new project in Detroit aims to repurpose a vacant house into a public performance space – but it needs your help. House Opera is the result of a collaboration between V. Mitch McEwen and her partner at A(n) Office, Marcelo Lopez-Dinardi. After McEwen purchased a vacant, stripped down house from the city of Detroit two and a half years ago, the two began removing elements of the “house” in order to transform it into an open theater space, meant to showcase Detroit storytelling.
Joined by Detroit curators and community organizers, as well as design and art collaborators from around the country, the project has received a $10,000 Knight Arts Challenge grant to fund half of the project. But support is needed to fund the other half. They have launched a fundraiser, which ends on July 2, 2015 12:59 AM, and donations can be made here. Learn more about the project after the break.
The house is currently a 2,000-square-foot, two-story building, with over 3,000 square feet of space including the yard. The project will remove a side wall and one level of the house to provide an open theater for the surrounding neighborhood and city of Detroit. Donations will go toward the production of the inaugural SigiFest by Afroptopia at the House Opera this July, the interior renovations and structural work, repairs to the roof, replacing of exterior sheathing and wrapping the house in custom-patterned Tyvek. Any additional funds will be allocated to cost over-runs, further renovation of the yard space, and the incorporation of a local artist’s work into the sheathing of the house.
