C O V E R
S T O R Y
B Y
J O N
W .
S P A R K S
ON PLACE + NON-PLACE Nelson Gutierrez, the Colombia-born artist behind the 2021 Projects gallery on Main Street, discusses finding inspiration in his homeland and history, and making a space for other artists to grow.
June 3-9, 2021
Artist Nelson Gutierrez was born in Colombia and worked in various places around the world and in the United States before coming to Memphis six years ago. But you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone as devoted to local artists and art. Gutierrez has an exhibition opening this weekend at 2021 Projects, a gallery at 55 South Main Street. That space is not the usual art venue, however, and that’s due to the artist working with the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) and numerous other artists in town to make it an attraction on several levels. That otherwise vacant space is part of the Open on Main retail initiative, a project that goes to the heart of the DMC’s mission to boost the 10 economic presence of Downtown. There are, as any who stroll along Main Street
PHOTO BY JON W. SPARKS
Nelson Gutierrez’s art explores human identity, experience, and history. will attest, plenty of empty storefronts. Open on Main makes it possible for entrepreneurs, artists, and small business
owners to take a low-risk chance on testing their concepts Downtown in some of these storefronts.
Open on Main Brett Roler, vice president of planning for the DMC, says, “Blight and vacancy drag down property values, curtail a vibrant street life, and make it harder for our existing businesses to thrive.” It is clearly better to have open doors and engaged pedestrians. The program has helped more than 30 store operators test the retail market Downtown, with more than 80 percent participation by minority/ women-owned business enterprises. Open on Main typically provides rent-free opportunities for tenants to have their pop-up businesses on Main Street. The arrangement is usually for a month, but Gutierrez was able to secure a six-month plan since he was having rotating exhibitions of about a month each. His stewardship began in January and has gone well enough that the DMC has
