Less than two months ago, the floor below CopyWrite Magazine’s office in Bronzeville was empty. But upstairs, the media and creative service company’s space was in high demand and short on square footage.
“People kept asking to rent the office, people kept asking to host events in the office,” says Lexi Brunson, CopyWrite owner and editor-in-chief. “And then we kept hearing stories from our collaborators, our community members, about how they’re not being able to access other spaces … This space opened up, and it was like, ‘This is an opportunity to solve a problem instantly, right?’”
Experience an unforgettable evening celebrating great design!
After rapid planning and designing, CopyWrite Magazine turned the impromptu dream into a new community space for supporting Black and Brown creatives and entrepreneurs. On Nov. 5, /CW Creative Studios + Shop had its grand opening with music, goodie bags, champagne, tours and local vendors.
The space includes a fashion studio – which doubles as an office for creative director Vato Vergara – as well as a recording studio, photo studio, movie/event room and retail store. For a small membership fee, people can use the studio to work on creative projects, hold workshops and events, or sell their products.
“We programmatically set it out to hit all of our pillars – visual arts, fashion, music, community and culture – and our emphasis with that is serving disenfranchised communities and fostering entrepreneurship,” Brunson says.
At the grand opening, the retail store featured vendors who are frequent collaborators with CopyWrite. Semma McCrary, who makes sunflower-based candles and scented products with her daughter as Semma’s Sunflower Organics, says she first met Brunson online and quickly clicked with her when meeting in person. Brunson asked McCrary to be a part of the inaugural storefront, and she set up her display the morning of the opening.
“These are people who are part of our community and who have supported us,” Brunson says. “It feels like a big family. Everybody has a different style. It’s really cool to see that manifest in that one space and really shape out how they want to show their merch, their craft and their art.”
The flat monthly fee gives members flexibility that wouldn’t be available in traditional leases, Brunson says, so vendors can operate seasonally and creatives aren’t tied down. CopyWrite also doesn’t take percentages, so all revenue from sales goes back to the vendor.
“We want people to have agency in this space,” Brunson says. “We want people to feel a sense of pride and feel like this is their store.”
Because of the swift turnaround, the space isn’t complete. A tall, large room still needs new floors and a finished doorframe, but Vergara plans to hold his last fashion show there in December. Brunson says the room could hold concerts, parties and pop-up shops, but the team is open to all possibilities. “Every time we’ve walked somebody in, I enjoy seeing their eyes light up because I think the gears in their head are turning, like, ‘What can this be?’”
Ultimately, Brunson says that she wants the new creative studios and store to reflect the Bronzeville area and support Black and Brown entrepreneurs in the face of displacement and gentrification.
“Bronzeville is a community we live, work and play in,” she says. “It’s really important that we still hold space for the people who have been here before us – our elders, our changemakers. This is a space for that.”
