The Brewhouse Gallery is absolutely one of the coolest places in our area. Wonderful art, all of it local, fills every inch of wall space. The craft beer area is superb with a great vibe and a wide range of selections. Local singer-songwriters and musicians occupy the stage, which is surrounded by antique and vintage furniture for seating. Eccentric? Yep. Around every corner is a “stop and stare” moment. It’s as if an artist took a blank piece of canvas, and with one masterstroke created an unforgettable venue that you’ll want to hang at again and again.
And expanding on the subject of art, about 2 years ago Co-Founder and Gallery Curator AJ Brockman’s vision of establishing an entire art district came into being, and as luck would have it the owner of the entire property that includes Brewhouse Gallery decided to get out of the landlord business, and AJ acquired the entire one block long structure in October of last year. And wouldn’t you know it, one of the spaces within the property was the old Kelsey Club, a vintage, classic rock and roll club from the late 90’s/early 2000’s. After a major renovation and a name change to the Kelsey Theatre, we now have an excellent venue for live entertainment. According to AJ, The Kelsey Club had a rich heritage. “We’re excited to now include not only live music, but performance arts, comedy, even ballet in that venue. For a sit-down show our seating capacity is 250 and for a standing room only music show it’s 500. Fortunately the building structure itself is built to bring in major acts as we have large loading docks and three green rooms, so we can accommodate almost anything and anyone”.
The Kelsey Theatre has been crowdfunded and the response has been exceptional, says AJ. “We are in the top 10 in crowdfunding in the theatre category on www.indiegogo.com.” The campaign closed out at the end of February, with over $40,000 raised.
So, Kelsey Theatre had a soft opening recently and have one act per week up until May 14, when they will have their grand opening featuring live music, art vendors, food trucks, live painting and more. Local musicians will command both stages (Kelsey Theatre and inside Brewhouse Gallery) and there will be one band every hour on both stages for 12 hours, or 24 local bands in all. Best of all, the May 14 Kelsey grand opening coincides with Brewhouse Gallery’s 2nd year anniversary—so it’s a double whammy of music, food, art, and of course a wonderful selection of craft beers, which Brewhouse is getting famous for.
In closing, AJ tells us “The City of Lake Park has been very supportive and we’re looking forward to the official opening of The Kelsey Theatre and our 2nd year anniversary celebration for Brewhouse Gallery. Our vision of establishing an arts district in our area is becoming a reality”.
