Scuttlebutt Confirmed, Mt. Pleasant Getting a Temporium!

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Awesome, Mt. Pleasant is getting a Temporium. From a press release:

As part of the city’s new Temporary Urbanism initiative, the DC Office of Planning (OP) has awarded Mount Pleasant Main Street (MPMS) a grant to establish a “Temporium” in an unoccupied retail space at 3068 Mt. Pleasant St. NW. A Temporium is a temporary, pop-up retail space for local artisans to exhibit and sell their work. The Mt. Pleasant Temporium is scheduled to open for 24 dates between late January and February.

The Mt. Pleasant project will feature handmade goods for sale from 20 local, independent crafters and artists, as well as special programming that includes autobiographical and theatrical storytelling, trunk shows, educational panels, and live music. The Temporium will be developed in partnership with SpeakeasyDC, Hello Craft, Radio CPR, Partners for Livable Communities, the DC Office of Planning, and several neighborhood-based community groups. The vendor curator, Hello Craft, also helps produce the annual Crafty Bastards Arts and Crafts Fair.

Continues after the jump.

“This is truly an exciting prospect that has the potential to attract hundreds of new visitors and their dollars to Mt. Pleasant and to establish a retail location as an arts ‘anchor’ along the business corridor,” said Alex Kramer, owner of Dos Gringos Café and president of the Mt. Pleasant Business Association.

The theme of the Mt. Pleasant Temporium is storytelling, which will be woven throughout the retail aspect of the shop to give visitors a truly engaging experience with not only the products for sale, but the stories behind the artists who made them. The storytelling theme will also be explored through select nights of autobiographical story performances by SpeakeasyDC, hands-on crafting workshops hosted by Hello Craft, and participation by local businesses.

“The Temporium’s activity will highlight the retail potential and commercial viability of the Mt. Pleasant business corridor,” said Jessica Scheuerman of Mount Pleasant Main Street. “We hope this project will become a change-maker in the community, not only through the promotion of the local economy, but also in re-igniting the neighborhood’s cultural heritage.”

“I lived in Mt. Pleasant for 10 years, so I have a real soft-spot for the neighborhood and a desire to see it prosper,” said Amy Saidman, director of SpeakeasyDC. “The Temporium is a great way to bring people and energy to this great neighborhood.”

The Mt. Pleasant Temporium will be the District’s second. The first Temporium was implemented on the H Street NE corridor in July 2010. It attracted more than 1,600 visitors to H Street NE over four weekends and generated sales and new opportunities for 17 participating designers.

According to OP, a Temporium helps meet several objectives established by the District of Columbia through the Creative DC Action Agenda and the Retail Action Roadmap. They include supporting creative entrepreneurs, activating commercial corridors and highlighting their retail potential, providing residents with unique services and activities, and promoting neighborhoods.