Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Save Market 5 Gallery From Eviction

For over 30 years Market 5 Gallery has operated in the north hall of Washington, DC's historic Eastern Market as an alternative art space. Despite the fact that the space has no indoor plumbing or climate control, this non profit arts organization has thrived and launched many a career in the arts. A few years ago, Market 5 went to court to fight an illegal eviction by the city. The case was settled out of court but the rent was raised almost 10 fold with the promise of indoor plumbing, heat, an upgraded electrical system and other improvements to bring the entire market up to code. Now that improvements are underway on the south hall of the market, the city is trying to illegally evict Market 5 Gallery again. Please help the gallery by signing a petition to stop this eviction. Please forward this information to friends and family that are familiar with the gallery and its programs. Washington, DC's Office of Property Management (OPM) and its contractors have bullied and harassed Market 5 Gallery ever since OPM was given oversight of Eastern Market's North Hall. On Tuesday morning, OPM broke in the gallery and changed the locks. Later that day an OPM official said it was a mistake and that they would send someone to let gallery staff in on Wednesday. Check out the interview of gallery staff on youtube. Please sign the gallery's petition to halt another illegal eviction attempt and contact Mayor Fenty to express your outrage over OPM's illegal dealings with Market 5 Gallery. http://youtube.com/watch?v=KXARfjRZYSE

Go to http://market5gallery.org for information about the gallery.

Go to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/savemarket5gallery to sign the petition. Camille Mosley-Pasley
Anacostia Fine Art
www.AnacostiaFineArt.com
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:41 AM

    Anne, it'd be nice to know the rest of the story here -- like, for example, that the (now-expired) leaseholder for the space didn't pay rent for months and months yet raised the rent on all the flea market vendors nearly twofold during that time.

    For those interested in knowing more about the full story behind the North Hall and the Market 5 Gallery, you should attend EMCAC (Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee) meetings -- it's usually quite a different story than is painted by John Harrod (the Market 5 Gallery owner).

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  2. Anne Marchand6:12 PM

    Thank you for the follow up Jason.

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