The Machine Shop Gallery, which had its grand opening on August 13, 2010, is the pride of local entrepreneur Chris Clements, a painter and ceramic artist who took an old, small industrial building in East Village, San Diego and turned it into a gallery for local established and up-and-coming artists. Clements’ goal with this space is to give San Diego a new, youthful, urban platform for all artists to display their work. The Machine Shop Gallery is 550 square feet including a loft accessed by a spiral staircase, with ceilings ranging from 12 to 20 feet, creating an assortment of wall spaces. The walls consist of white drywall, redwood and 1920’s original black brick, creating a variety of ways in which the gallery can be set up from show to show. The Machine Shop Gallery is a great addition to the East Village, with a very progressive location and mission of offering public space for the community. However, what makes this gallery so important, besides it offering a space for expression, is how it is helping to transform a region of San Diego as well as the alley that it inhabits. There are many ways to transform an alley from just a space for trash to a space for public use, such as turning dumpsters into works of art, creating artistic ways to house dumpsters, using string lighting to give an alley a safe and non-threatening feel, and creating clear identifiable lines for pedestrians and vehicles. The Machine Shop Gallery was able to offer this same kind of transformation by placing an art gallery in an alley, attracting a flow of people, creating a safe and usable space, giving life to an alley, which would otherwise be lifeless.

Project Information

Project Address: 

540 15th Street (alley), San Diego CA 92101 (East Village)

Project Owner/ Developer: 

Chris Clements

Owner Contact Name/ Email: 

communityspacesd@gmail.com

Project Architect/ Designer: 

Chris Clements

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