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Jenn Raines is the owner of The Sideshow gallery on North Boundary Street, which opened in April.
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The Sideshow is the next venture from the creative minds trying to make Williamsburg culture better…this time, though, it’s a genre-buster.
I met up with Jenn Raines and Kendra Law as they prepare for their next big project, opening The Sideshow on North Boundary Street. It’s the old Master Craftsman building, and from the outside, it looks like a classic white colonial-style house. Inside, however, it has the makings of the Wonka factory, full of colors and interesting textures and unbelievable furniture pieces.
“This is the hard work of creativity—unpacking boxes!” said Kendra Law, the store manager (and also the manager of Quirks of Art on Prince George Street, approximately one minute away) as she and owner Raines sat on the lawn of the store-to-be with box cutters and Allen wrenches trying to put display shelves together.
I wanted to know how Sideshow was going to be different from all of the overlapping ventures—Raines and Law have their fingers in all kinds of things: Quirks, Spoke and Art Provisions and CultureFix, supporting 2nd Sundays Festival and musical shows at the Kimball Theater. The location of Sideshow makes perfect sense for efforts to electrify the arts in Williamsburg—but what’s going to be happening inside that’s new and different?
Turns out, it’s the art.
More art! Bigger art! More interesting, more colorful and more unusual art!
“Over the years, we’ve wished that we had time or space for showcasing some of the artists that we meet. With Quirks’ move to downtown, we had to scale it, and so this new space gives us more room,” Raines said.
Raines has supported thousands of independent artists over the years, starting with Kinks, Quirks and Caffeine, (the business that started it all) on Jamestown Road that opened in 1997.
“We wanted to go back and collect some of our greatest hits. We needed room for more sculptural pieces and functional art pieces like furniture,” she said.
For Sideshow, Raines said they went with their intuition, for whimsical, fun, sensation-evoking and high quality pieces. “Nothing boring! And, we’re trying to have something for everyone, from $3 to $3,000,” said Raines.
The increased square footage of the new store offers more space to show off tables, cabinets and other functional art. Jewelry ranges from Rene Escobar’s fine jewelry, made from recycled precious metals and carried in fine department stores, shipped from his workshop in south Florida to kitschy Erstwilder resin jewelry for people who love retro style.Part of Raines’ desire for more fine glass includes the work of Bob and Lisa Kliss, blown glass Law calls “Seuss-ical” because it resembles the colorful artwork of Dr. Seuss as well as kaleidoscopes.
“We love having a relationship with the producer, it’s the best part of this job—and it enriches everyone’s lives. The artists teach us the process and we share that with anyone who comes into the shop. Buy it because you love it and want to look at it every day.” said Law.
Much of the work is handcrafted, making it unconventional fine art, often in the folk art style, created by artisans.
“We aren’t hoping to attract any specific demographic to Sideshow, we’re looking for a mindset—people who seek out art experiences,” said Raines.
221 North Boundary Street, Williamsburg • shopthesideshow.com