Renaissance Avenue
Local artists, restaurant owners and entrepreneurs breathe new life into Broad
Memphis Daily News
http://memphisdailynews.com/editoria....aspx?id=50980
The area around Broad Avenue was challenged by crime and some businesses were slowly dying even before the Sam Cooper expansion cut it off completely from the Binghamton neighborhood. But in the few years since, artists who lived there, usually above their own studio spaces, have banded together to create an arts district like Cooper-Young and South Main. Photos: Lance Murphey
Jerry Couillard of Metalworks stands by a metal top hat that his shop recently made for the opening gala celebration of Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. The business creates metal arts.
David Brown of Splash Creative is president of the Historic Broad Avenue Business Association. New galleries and new restaurants are helping turn the area into an active Arts District.
The area around Broad Avenue was challenged by crime and some businesses were slowly dying even before the Sam Cooper expansion cut it off completely from the Binghampton neighborhood. But in the few years since, artists who lived there have banded together to create an arts district like Cooper-Young and South Main.
Tom Fleming, 8, and Mason Gudelsky work on a junkyard music sculpture during a weeklong music camp. Organizers hope to turn the building into a "Junkyard Museum."