Group opening Durham venue for local artists

Many area event venues closed during the pandemic, dealing a huge blow to the arts community. One group is now trying to reverse that trend by creating an outlet to showcase local talent.

“Durham has an incredible pool of artists of all different disciplines,” Jack Reitz, a stakeholder and partner for Mettlesome, said Wednesday.

The performance art collective began as a small group of friends performing in a garage in 2016.

“We started in our garage, but we rented out different venues around the Triangle, around Durham,” Reitz said. “Since our very first performance, some of the places we used to rent have closed down."

As spaces continued to shutter amid the pandemic, the number of creative performers and artists in the Triangle only grew larger, he said.

“There’s a big hole for performing artists in the area," he said. "People have the talent, they have the skills, they’ve got something to say. And they have a really hard time finding where to put it."

Mettlesome decided to start from ground zero and build an outlet of its own in Durham’s Golden Belt Campus, a former textile mill on East Main Street that has been converted to a mix of offices, loft apartments, artist studios and event space.

“[It] is a really neat community to be a part of," Reitz said. "You can go and get dinner [or] a drink and then come walk right around the corner to see a show."

“I feel like it’s just been overwhelming to see all of the support that has come in from the community,” said Lauren Foster-Lee, another Mettlesome stakeholder.

A Kickstarter campaign raised more than $40,000 in less than two months to help the group equip the space before a planned opening next March.

“We’ll be building a stage. We’ll be setting up lights. We’re looking into getting a spring floor that will be very attractive for dancers [and] having a green room that will also double as a classroom,” Foster-Lee said.

Whether it’s stand-up comedy, improv, theater or dance, the Mettlesome theater will become a permanent home for local talent, she said.

“It’s always fun to be able to see Broadway shows in our own community, but it’s also cool to recognize that there are some amazing artists that are here in Durham,” Foster-Lee said.

“We have the small venues, and these local venues that are really geared towards supporting those local artists, and it really just kind of gives them a stage to grow,” she added.