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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019
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FROM DEAD SPACE TO ART EXHIBIT
Photos by Sondra Carr
Ray Merritt, a member of the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association board, and Michael Angiletta, a founder of Project Storefront Astoria, clean the
defunct photo booth outside the old Arc Arcade on Commercial Street, preparing it to become a new work of art.
By KATHERINE LACAZE
For The Daily Astorian
T
he founders of Project Storefront Asto-
ria have formed an uncommon union
between the area’s creative minds and
vacant downtown buildings — a pair-
ing meant to ripple outward and boost eco-
nomic revitalization.
“It was a really personal thing for me,”
said Astoria resident Michael Angiletta, who
helped launch the project. “I really love this
town.”
After assessing the commercial landscape
— and recognizing that empty, dead store-
fronts have as much of a halo effect as beau-
tiful ones — Angiletta searched for a solu-
tion and came across a similar project in
New Haven, Connecticut.
In bringing Project Storefront to Astoria,
Angiletta and other founders hope to “prove
the concept with low obstacles and low hur-
dles.” They want to make it easy for building
owners to agree to have temporary window
displays or other art exhibits installed to help
energize downtown.
And the project doesn’t just involve win-
dow displays. Other structures and spaces
— a defunct phone booth, say, or a chain-
link fence around an empty lot — can also be
potential canvasses.
Coming alive
With the support of the Astoria Downtown
Historic District Association, Project Store-
front launched a pilot program in fall 2018
that included participation from the Astoria
Regatta, Astor Street Opry Company, Lib-
erty Theatre and the old J.C. Penney building
on Commercial Street, now owned by Sean
Fitzpatrick and Chris Holen.
While Angiletta works with building own-
ers — many of whom don’t live in Astoria
— to access their vacant spaces, his counter-
Project Storefront Astoria’s immersive installation at the Norblad Hotel was a collaborative eff ort
among seven local artists, including Sondra Carr, William Michael Brown, Kai Raden, Carol Edwards,
Janet Nelson Hutchings, Missy Strain and Shannon Hendrick. The temporary exhibit, open for the
December Art Walk, featured illuminated paper sea creatures, murals of marine landscapes and other
lighting eff ects, along with an atmospheric soundscape created by Harper Carr.
part Sondra Carr, owner of Vignette Coastal
Design, matches artists to the sites. She
also uses her skills in visual merchandis-
ing to help generate ideas for eye-catching
installations.
Unlike at a gallery or museum, where
people purposefully go to spend time view-
ing art, “you’ve got two to seven seconds to
capture someone’s attention” when they’re
walking by a storefront display, she said.
Carr also established the Astoria Center
for Collaborative Arts as a nonprofi t to help
area artists “envision working together col-
laboratively,” she said. Artists are currently
coming to her with amazing ideas, she said.
“I think it’s going to be really exciting this
coming year,” she added.
main entry point for building owners and art-
ists to get involved.
Attracting artists hasn’t been a challenge.
At this point, there are more potential exhib-
itors than spaces; getting access to the vacant
storefronts is the diffi cult part. Yet the proj-
ect moves along.
For the Astoria Art Walk in December,
Paul Caruana’s Norblad Hotel at 1359 Duane
St. was the site of an immersive installation,
complete with paper sea creatures, murals
of undersea landscapes and lighting effects.
Seven artists — Carr, William Michael
Brown, Kai Raden, Carol Edwards, Janet
Nelson Hutchings, Missy Strain and Shan-
non Headrick — contributed. Harper Carr
also created an atmospheric soundscape to
play as visitors walked through.
‘A museum without walls’
Project Storefront’s Facebook page is the
See Downtown, Page C2