Artspace is a non-profit visual art center dedicated to presenting quality exhibitions and educational programs within an open-studio environment. Since 1986, Artspace has been inspiring creative energy by bringing artists and the public together to experience the creative process in a very real and personal way

The Artspace building, located at 201 East Davie Street, has always been a center of activity and a community focal point. The 30,000 square foot building was built in 1911 as Raleigh’s city livery. At that time Raleigh businesses were located around Capitol Square. Fayetteville Street was the main street of commerce and the City Market area focused on bringing county residents into town to sell produce and goods for markets around the city.

The next owner of the building was the Sanders Ford Car Dealership, which at the time was one of the largest dealerships in North Carolina. In 1969, urban sprawl forced the Sanders Ford Dealership to move from the downtown area, leaving the building empty for several years.

Raleigh began to refocus its efforts on downtown revitalization, and with that mission in mind, Artspace was the perfect solution to enhance and rejuvenate the City Market and Moore Square Areas.

Artspace officially opened its doors and invited the public to experience the art making process in November of 1986. At that time, the City Market area suffered from problems relating to urban decay and was in need of revitalization. In many ways Artspace and its founders were pioneers in downtown Raleigh, convincing arts organizations and artists to join them in creating this new visual art center and bringing visitors to a then blighted area.

Artspace Visual Art Center

201 E Davie St
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 821-2787
Get directions

I wanted to follow up on my previous post about this building.

The green doors are gone, and the building is gutted.

As you can see, the old Gibbons Service building has been cleaned out and gutted in anticipation of a future lease. As a reader pointed out, the most recent occupant of this building was TAO Automotive, now located on Capital Boulevard. It’s unclear who owns the property or what they have in mind with it.

I passed by this thing on at least two occasions before I grasped the absurdity of the situation. This trendy Trek Mystic girls bicycle is currently attached via a bike lock to the bar near Bruegger’s Bagels on Hillsborough Street. It’s been there for weeks now. My first thought is that it’s the work of a humorous prankster, but you have to sit back and wonder who is going to pay top dollar ($140) for a bike to use as a joke? If you follow the link above, you’ll notice this bike comes from the factory with steamers and a white plastic basket. Other than these two missing items, this bike is in brand new condition.
Do you have any guesses as to who put it there or why?