The Grove entertainment/commercial district is home to many diverse and urban restaurants, bars, boutiques, a live music venue, and now a super talented print shoppe WORK/PLAY located at 4302 Manchester Rd. Owners Kevin and Danielle McCoy sat down to chat with WUMCRC’s Tara Bolen about their print shoppe and why they decided to move to the Grove.
Q. What is WORK/PLAY? What is your role?
KM: WORK/PLAY is a couple of individuals heavily influenced by printmaking, design & culture. We (Kevin and Danielle McCoy) have both served as curators and organizers for a plethora of art shows around the St. Louis metropolitan area and are now in the process of bringing our very own print shop to the heart of the Grove. We are here to serve as purveyors of culture, further anchor ourselves within the printmaking community and bring designers and printmakers far and wide to the heart of the Grove as well as metro St. Louis.
My role is simply a visionary. Any vein that can be used to bring those ideas to fruition will be used.
Q. Why did you choose to move your business to the Grove?
KM: I can speak for both of us when I say the Grove neighborhood accepted us with open arms. We collaborated with SPACE Architecture and Heather Voyles to produce a print exhibition named “PRINT/PULL” and it was a success. We were all blown away from the generous amount of support that we received on behalf of the show. We have always wanted to go somewhere that we “felt” was a perfect fit. Honestly it was a blessing from God how the turn of events happened.
Q. What do you like most about the Grove?
KM: Diversity, diversity, diversity! We feel that the Grove is one of the most diverse neighborhoods in St. Louis. It simply fits with our mantra. It’s just an exciting neighborhood. We also love the fact that it’s riddled with cool commissioned murals!
Q. What would you liked added to the Grove?
KM:We want to keep stimulating the artful side of things and bring even more creativity to the neighborhood by incorporating artful or cultural events. We also want to help stimulate more daytime traffic. We have a good nightlife scene going on in the Grove but we would love to see the even more traffic in the daytime. Lastly, we want to help bridge the gap between the eastern and western ends of Manchester.
This Friday, September 9th, WORK/PLAY and Secret Sound Society are joining forces to present a Benefit show at the Handlebar. WORK/PLAY will sell their artwork through out the night inside while the outdoor patio hosts a show featuring some of the most promising and inventive young musicians in the city. Those artists performing on the patio include: Scripts N Screwz, Teressa Janee and Michael Franco. Afterwards, the talented multi-disciplenary artist 18andCounting will spin inside.
The party will start at 9:00 PM and end at 2:00 AM. The Handlebar is located at 4127 Manchester Ave. To RSVP to the event on facebook please click here. Support and celebrate local art, music and culture by being in attendance on September 9.
Proceeds from the benefit show will go directly towards the two groups and will be split between them to help fund individual projects. WORK/PLAY will use proceeds to help pay for mild renovations, vintage presses, and other various equipment needed to open their new print shop. Secret Sound Society will use proceeds to help in part fund new projects that support and invest in the local music community possible in the near future. In addition to the Benefit Show, WORK/PLAY has also started a kickstarter campaign to also help raise needed funds to renovate their new shoppe in the wonderful Grove neighborhood.
Kevin & Danielle McCoy photographed by Jen Everette
Grove Fest 2011 from WORK/PLAY on Vimeo.
Promotional Grove Fest 2011 poster created by WORK/PLAY
Below: The 3 posters that were hand printed by WORK/PLAY as part of the guerrilla marketing effort of Grove Fest 2011.
