THE YFD STUDIOS AND PRODUCTION SPACE Pt. 1
Written by Kessler Cuffman - Executive Director of Dynamo Studios
This year has been chaotic to say the very least, but there have been some opportunities offered to us that have kept the fire strong. A few months back Mark Thomas, one of the directors for the Youth and Family Development Department within the local Rec Centers, approached me about refurbishing what used to be an old office space. The goal here is to turn these spaces into a recording studio/media production studio hybrid. This space was formerly the offices of the Parks & Rec department before they moved to a new location years ago. Since then, the space has sat vacant and fallen into a bit of ruin. Now that we have a new roof on the building, we are ready to roll!
Over the shut down season resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, I was able to meet with Mark and begin mapping out what we were both dreaming up: A production space built just for the students living the surrounding neighborhoods. This space is, more or less, a blank canvas for us to build the perfect space for the kids.
What really sold me on this project were two things:
The location is in close proximity to a huge number of inner city students. Accessibility and transportation are serious challenges for the students we like to work with and this location solves both of those problems!
This space is the perfect gathering space for musicians to come work with students so they can play an active role in their lives. When artists invest their time and energy into working with students is when the real, life changing magic happens.
Here are a few photos from a recent consult with our good friend Matt Jeffrey. His company, Chattanooga Floor Care and Sanitizing, is going support us by staining and polishing our concrete floors!
