Lawrence Percolator, an arts nonprofit, is the new short-term renter of the former Squishingtons Candy and Liberty Hall Video storefront in downtown. 

They’ve had a pop-up at 646 Massachusetts St. since July, supported by OpenStudios, a program that connects local artists with vacant commercial spaces.

Thanks to funding from recurring patrons and one-off donors, Percolator signed a three-month, market-rate lease with Liberty Hall on Tuesday. 

“We’re looking at artists as entrepreneurs and freelancers, and in a way that’s authentic to them, not in a way that’s commercially cheapening their work,” said John Harrison, OpenStudios director.

Percolator is his ultimate success story. 

Kyla Love is a board member with Percolator, as well as a digital artist and professional graphic web designer. She said the opportunity with OpenStudios gave Percolator galvanizing momentum.

The group started when artists, authors and architects came together in response to a rash of gallery closings in 2007. The collective morphed and took the name Percolator in 2008. 

Percolator had set up shop in a building behind the Lawrence Arts Center at 913 Rhode Island St. until the early days of COVID-19.

They’ve been largely mobile for the last few years, barring a stint at Art Love Collective. Love said the majority of their programming is open-call art shows where anyone can submit work.

“We were still meeting regularly,” she said. “We were still helping connect artists with resources and places to have shows. We did fiscal sponsorship for projects that we were approached for.”

But Mass Street money seemed out of reach before OpenStudios. 

Now, their doorjamb is turning into the “fridge of Lawrence,” as Love calls it, peppered with doodles from folks who wandered in and took advantage of their art supplies.

“One of our real goals beyond the art shows is becoming a third space, somewhere where people can come in and hang out and create and connect with one another without having to spend money,” Love said.

Harrison is a classical violinist who plays with the ideas of tech, interactivity, and immersive experiences in his visual work. While working with Percolator, he realized he’d found his people and joined the board.

“The idea that Percolator was exploring — this way of … everybody can make art, that this is a much wider experience and reward for the community — that just really spoke to me,” he said. 

Board members think the group is just scrappy enough, balancing pie-in-the-sky hopes with earthbound realism, to make a storefront work. However, their landlords’ willingness to draft a short-term lease was key.

“It wouldn’t be responsible to commit to a yearlong lease without knowing that we could fulfill that,” Love said. “So, having that kind of on-ramp of the three-month lease is super helpful.”

Liberty Hall co-owner Josh Millstein said the theater shows many forms of art, and Percolator offers another creative vector.

“We just thought it would be a really good partner to have, or a neighbor to have, since, like I said, we’re all trying to push out some art for the community,” he said.

Harrison said it’s been easy to get artist buy-in for OpenStudios — landlords have proved cagier. But Millstein said he’d recommend it to other downtown businesses and landlords. Worst-case scenario, artists are keeping a space up so it doesn’t sit empty.

Best-case scenario looks like Liberty Hall’s partnership with Percolator, as the lease supplements the theater’s income. Millstein said Percolator has also brought more traffic to a block that’s been suffering from closures, including Starbucks, Winfield House, Black Stag Brewery and later The Stag, and Globe Indian Food.

Harrison said he has positive reports from other landlords and arts groups participating in OpenStudios. Currently, the Lawrence Potters’ Guild is selling a range of practical pottery and sculptural work, as well as photography, handmade journals and oil paintings, at 938 Massachusetts St.

“I expect that we don’t know all the ways it’s benefited us, but it has certainly made us a more cohesive group. We have become very organized,” said Belinda Baker, president of the guild.

She said the potters in the group don’t have the funds or time to operate a full-time storefront.

“This is a nice way to get our feet wet and see what we like and what we don’t like, and help out … the owner of the building,” Baker said.

Love said the number one thing they’ve heard from wanderers-by is “I’m so glad something like this exists.”

Create, make, percolate

With the security of the lease, Love said Percolator will start adding more events to their calendar, including an open forum for local arts. The group wants input on how they can make the best use of their space.

“We want to be a place for artists to host workshops, classes, drawing circles, improv nights, open mic nights — whatever the community imagines, we’re here to help make it happen,” she said.

Love, Harrison and Millstein said to be on the lookout for Liberty Hall and Percolator partnerships, including events with the theater’s “spacement” lounge.

Percolator is open from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. They will be open for other events, per their Facebook page, and from 5 to 9 p.m. for Final Fridays.

Love said they’d like to expand hours if they get more volunteers.

Baker said the potters’ guild has a winter pottery sale on Sunday, Nov. 15 at Maceli’s Banquet Hall & Catering; find out more at this link. They’ll also have a show Saturday, Dec. 5 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1245 New Hampshire St.

The potters’ guild downtown space is open from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 3 p.m. Sunday.

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Wulfe Wulfemeyer (they/them), reporter and news editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2025. They can be reached at [email protected].

Read their complete bio here. Read their work for the Times here.

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