A little before + after ...

classroom before ...

classroom after!

gallery before ...

gallery after ...

I don't think I have ever shared the before and after of artstream here, so I thought I would today. Just the photos are enough - if you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know what the gallery looks like, from my endless stream of shots. But the before pictures really give one a better picture of what our roots were. A 106 year old building with loads of potential, with priceless tin above and maple floors below. With thirty years of disrepair housing 14 physical tons of waste, ready to be knocked down for some parking spots. It holds a lot of history for those who have lived in the area. Many people remember it as a hardware store and younger people remember it as a sporting goods shop. They tell us when they come in.

It reminds me of how much we have put into our business, how we have helped to make downtown Rochester a little more beautiful, a little more aware, a little more curious, and have opened the beautiful space to those creatives from very young to established for all the world to see. At the end of each day, no matter how tired I am, I think how well spent my time has been and how very much I have enjoyed bringing beauty into the world.