Placeholders Closing Party

Placeholders Closing Party
Friday, June 27, 6–8 pm
367 E 10th Street

Join us to celebrate the closing of Placeholders, a project that showcases the vibrant spaces HDFCs hold in their storefronts.

Co-hosted by the Cooper Square Committee, Piragua Art Space, and Relative Arts!

On display through June 30 at 165 and 169 Ave C in Manhattan, Placeholders showcases objects from small businesses, artists, and community organizations located inside HDFC storefronts on the Lower East Side.

Due to decades of grassroots organizing, the Lower East Side is home to many Housing Development Fund Corporation cooperatives (HDFCs), a unique type of affordable housing collectively owned and operated by residents. HDFCs often rent their storefronts to small businesses, artists, and nonprofits that serve local needs, nurture creativity, and express culture. Collectively, HDFCs offer a stable model for residents and small businesses facing the threat of displacement.

Items in the installation include a camera from Fourth Street Photo Gallery, the city’s oldest Black-owned photography studio; a hand-painted mortar and pestle from Puerto Rican restaurant Casa Adela; and handmade Mexican folk art from La Sirena. The exhibition is supplemented by a map of the featured businesses, available for free at the closing reception.

Cooper Square Committee co-created Placeholders with Scott Kelly and Delphine Le Goff as part of Design Sprints: Building Creative Capacity, an initiative of Van Alen Institute and the NYC Department of Small Business Services. Special thanks to the board and shareholders of the 165-167-169 Avenue C HDFC.

Design Sprints is supported by the NYC Department of Small Business Services.