The James Black Gallery Break-In

The James Black Gallery was broken into Friday night potentially by a disgruntled past studiomate who was recently evicted.  They broke the locks on all locked studiospaces and may have had a copy of their past keyset.  Many elements of it was a staged break-in with valuables being removed from spaces, but not taken. A bass guitar was used to break things and ultimately smashed along the stairwell steps. The focus was on destroying the live-in residence spaces and was the most rummaged through.

The James Black Gallery has been dedicated to providing low cost space for emerging artists to experiment, create, and show their work since 2014. The JBG is located in a heritage building in Mount Pleasant (est. 1889). The space hosts events, studio space, and a sculpture workshop.

We have mostly been self-funded during our years of building community and want to continue to be focused on being a safer space. This is where we are now turning to our community to ask for help.

Our priority is to replace all door locks/new keys and want it done professionally by a locksmith, broken studio latches, fix a stair, and get motion detector lights.

If we surpass our goal we will be replacing some lost and broken equipment, getting security cameras installed, and then investing it back into the space.

Thank you,

Zandi Dandizette