Goodbye 106 Prospect Street

I took this picture last Monday, September 29.  This is the last picture I ever took of the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street during, after Stone Soup's well attended and final show at that location with Lissa Piercy.

I didn't feel sad at all about that final night.  Partly, I'm sure, because Stone Soup already had a home secured at the Out of The Blue's new home.  Still, it was a little surprising how organic and painless it was to finally separate myself from the location.

I first walked in the gallery in September 2003 after taking part in a Somerville Community Access Television filmed poetry reading with Ian Thal. Ian wanted to stop in, and I met both Tom Tipton and Deborah Priestly.  It wouldn't be until later that I would reenter the gallery to attend Deb's Open Bark Saturday Night readings.  Eventually I hit Stone Soup's Monday open mic at OOTB with an eye on reading and featuring there to peddle my self-published chapbook.

In time, I did feature for Stone Soup in April and December of 2004.  Even then, knowing nothing of how poetry readings worked (and didn't work), I thought it was strange to have me read as a half-hour feature twice in one year.  The second time I featured, I read with Stone Soup's founder Jack Powers in the audience, his head bent down into his arms, seemingly unresponsive until I read one of my particularly blasphemous "Sarcastic Haiku" pieces that caused the very spiritual-minded Jack to laugh very visibly and audibly. 

I  met my then-girlfriend that summer at a Out of The Blue fundraiser cookout in July.  She had been with Stone Soup for years and filled in hosting duties and open feature slots many times over the previous decade.  After a year of us going out, she approached me with Bill Perrault's offer to let me help with booking, doing internet promotion and occasionally co-hosting.  This led to my first hosting gig with Ann Carhart on August 28, 2005, and except for one break in November of that year, I continued to be the unofficial runner of Stone Soup for the next nine years.

In the first half of my time at 106 Prospect, I would try to initiate fundraisers to help the gallery.  By 2008, I was out of that game for good.  Even today, between health concerns and new responsibilities, I couldn't even help the Gallery in their most recent string of fundraisers.  It made me glad that there are new volunteers (like Oddball's TJ Edson) that were able to help the Gallery make the push from 106 Prospect to it's new location on 541 Massachusetts Avenue, now smack dab in Cambridge rather than a couple of blocks away from the action. 

It's silly to say that the time at 106 Prospect ended on my terms.  I had no terms that could have been stated.  I had nothing to do with any of the decision making process for the gallery's new home and in fact had to distance myself from it when I was too overwhelmed in my personal and professional lives to do anything but catch Facebook updates on the matter.  Still, it ended in a way I was completely satisfied with (and there are some of you out there who know how I can hold grudges over things I've had no control over).  Moreover, I'm excited to start this new chapter of Stone Soup and thrilled that there are enough people out there who want to follow along with me.  Thank you for following me here and elsewhere.