Dupp&Swat creates a home for the creative community with its new artists collective and event space
Imagine a space that contains a hangout lounge, a retail room for local fashions and wide stretches of walls to provide a platform for local artists. By day, people are free to stop in and shop the art and retail, perhaps take a seat in the lounge and breathe in the mellow scents of incense.
By night, events are likely to sweep into the space, with music, food and drinks.
This is exactly what Davita Galloway and her brother Dion want to bring into their artists collective and event space, Dupp&Swat, which they just reopened at 2521 The Plaza Thursday night. The entrance to the space can be found on the far right end of a strip of shops. Look for the bright blue window trim.
Their original space on North Davidson Street closed last year after the building was sold. As discussed at a Creative/Mornings Charlotte talk that featured Davita, this was a space where people could create through fashion, performance, music, visual arts — or any other form they pleased.
“In order for our art and creative community to survive, artists must survive,” she said.
The name of their space comes from a combination of their nicknames “Dupp” (for Dion) and “Swat” (for Davita).
The creative vibe is already coming back to Dupp&Swat on The Plaza. Prior to the grand re-opening party, the walls and retail space were filling up with art and clothing by at least 10 artists and designers. The works will rotate out as they sell.
“It’s not even about me and what I like,” Davita said about the selection. “It’s about the artists and the designers having an opportunity, having a platform. Because it may not be my aesthetic, but surely someone walking through the door will be attracted to it.”
While this is Dupp&Swat’s “studio location,” the brand is also opening a second “concept location” at Camp North End’s Boileryard, likely this year. The studio location will be a themed, curated space that rotates every six months and splits donations between a designated nonprofit and Dupp&Swat’s philanthropic arm, CrownKeepers. Crownkeepers seeks to offer hands-on training and art and trade-based education to people without creative and entrepreneurial opportunities.
New Boileryard tenants, Dupp&Swat included, will be showcased tonight during the weekly Friday Nights at Camp North End event from 5-9 p.m. A grand opening date for this concept location has yet to be set.
For now, artists are free to drop in at The Plaza location.
“I want them to come home,” Davita said as she stood in the new space. “This is home. Not only for us but for every artist. Each artist. I want them to know that this exists for them. There are a lot of places in Charlotte that say ‘no’ or don’t provide an opportunity or a platform and we do just that. We are strictly here for artists and their creative expression.”
Visit Dupp&Swat’s studio location
Location: 2521 The Plaza
Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. Open Sunday and Monday for events only.
Photos: Katie Toussaint
This story was originally published July 28, 2017 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Dupp&Swat creates a home for the creative community with its new artists collective and event space."