About THE SPACE
The Staunton Downtown Development Association with support from the Department of Housing and Community Development announces the opening of THE SPACE, located at 35A South New Street in downtown Staunton. THE SPACE will serve as an evolving location for smaller exhibits, conversations and happenings.
THE SPACE is located beside the Staunton Visitors Center on New Street and features storefront windows from both the street and the New Street parking garage. SDDA invites individuals to step up and take a peek through the glass to check what’s happening this summer.
Our Current Exhibit
From 1990 to 1995, local children took part in organized art projects, camping trips, fencing matches, community elder meetings, and even neighborhood trash cleanups. It was all through a program called Newtown Kids
Newtown Kids was the vision of Staunton native, Ms. Jennifer Vickers. Daughter of the late Rosa Lee and Timmie Vickers Sr., Jennifer came from a legacy of active community engagement. She became involved with the Staunton C.I.A. (Community, Involvement, Awareness), a grassroots effort her parents had been active in, whose initial focus was to address the "blight" in the Johnson Street neighborhood. Through her involvement with C.I.A., Jennifer saw a need to provide structure in the lives of neighborhood children. Soon after, Newtown Kids was born. Youth from all over town participated before Newtown Kids was disbanded in 1995. Its impact, however, continues to this day.
The exhibit has been curated by local filmmaker (Angel) David Verde in partnership with Emmy-award winning filmmaker Lauren Fulton. This exhibit has been made possible by the generous support of the Shenandoah Valley Black Heritage Project, the Staunton Downtown Development Association, and the Jerome L. Green Foundation as recommended by Karen Brooks Hopkins.
See ya next year Statlers!
The Statler Brothers Exhibit has come to a close. If you missed it, don’t worry the exhibit will return next year! Listen to the Statler’s own Don Reid talk about featured items on his YouTube Channel. Reid and the exhibit were also included in stories by local news stations The News Leader and WHSV.
A special thank you to our sponsor Henry Funeral Home and supporters Jim and Pam Huggins and Daglo Dutchgirl LLC/Mobile Home LLC.