The DBD Storefront Project takes place in the donated spaces of our downtown vacant buildings, with the owners permission. These projects are temporary installations and the buildings are available for commercial lease or are in development. For more information on the Storefront Project please contact DBD coordinator Sandra Russo-Driska at Sandra@downtownmiddletown.com.

Storefronts to Date

428 Main Street (installed Dec. 2021)

Formerly Irreplaceable Artifacts, before that Woolworth’s. Building Owner: Dominick DeMartino. This vacant storefront has hosted a variety of temporary installations, including artist Kat Owens. Kat invited the public to participate in creating a scale mural of the Sperm Whale, using the film plastics which threaten sea creatures. This image is part of the artist’s Entangled and Ingested series of hand-sewn portraits of 46 species harmed by marine debris. Learn more about the project at her website: www.KatOwens.com.

420 Main Street (installed Nov. 2021 - removed June 2022)

Formerly Amato’s Toy & Hobby. Building Owner: Dominick DeMartino. This imaginary storefront features Rosie the Barber, offering a haircut, shave and her proprietary bottled “Hair of the Dog”. Created by the Kidcity Children’s Museum creative team, led by Jen Alexander, Scott Kessel, and Matt Niland, with assistance from Liv Elmore, Sioux Wimler, Greg Ryan, Tenzin Masselli, Charlotte McCoid, April Chateauneuf and Ellen Maurer. This long vacant storefront was the location of Rosindo Amato’s plumbing and heating supply store in the early 20th century, and then his son Vincent Amato’s first Toy & Hobby shop, before it relocated across Main Street.

584 Main Street (installed Oct. 2021)

Formerly Shlien’s Furniture. Building Owner: Dominick DeMartino. A construction barrier acts as a gallery wall for the work of artist Pierre Sylvain. The three paintings, entitled House of Moses, Middnight Jazz, and I Love Middletown, were created for the site in the summer of 2021. The installation is featured in a Middletown Press article: Project aims to breathe artistic life into Middletown's unoccupied building facades. Follow Pierre Sylvain on Instagram or learn more at his website, www.PierreSylvain.com.

About the Storefront Project

The DBD Storefront Project was proposed with the support of State Senator Matt Lesser, and is funded by a grant from the Connecticut Office of the Arts in the Department of Economic & Community Development, as part of Covid relief projects in the State of Connecticut. This is the narrative that we submitted as our proposal:

The Storefront Project is an initiative of the Downtown Business District (DBD) to enliven vacant commercial properties during a time of Covid-related economic challenge and transition on Main Street, Middletown.  

When this project was conceived in March 2021, there were 23 vacant storefronts facing Main Street in the 7/10ths of a mile of historic commercial blocks, and many more in the side streets and interior spaces which are also part of our business zone. This number is constantly in flux, but there has been unusual vacancy due to Covid, and we expect this era of instability to continue as the storekeepers and property owners work to recover.

In cooperation with the property owners, this project creates storefront installations to bring attention to empty commercial property. The goal is to create an outdoor "gallery" of the empty spaces, to be viewed from the sidewalk. Main Street still functions as a strong dining destination, with many people coming to our downtown from outside of Middletown, and improved foot traffic is important to our recovery. The Storefront Project seeks to make a Covid-friendly tourism experience of strolling the street to see what's new, and create serendipitous interactions between visitors and the work, as they find unexpected treasures along their walk. It showcases which properties are vacant, and also highlights the entrepreneurial and artistic roots of the Middletown business and cultural communities, hopefully stimulating interest in new ventures in Downtown Middletown.

The storefronts will host a variety of installations, including paintings, history exhibits, whimsical "imaginary" storefronts, community-based art projects and more. The projects will be developed and gradually rolled out between July 2021 and June 2023, as properties and partnerships allow.  Each storefront treatment will be unique, and will be able to move to another location as new businesses open and vacancies occur.

The Storefront Project will address 5 to 10 storefronts, and there is a great range in terms of the size of available storefronts and complexity of project. In each case, staff and volunteers for the DBD will curate and coordinate the installation, securing the permission of property owners, and engaging artists and community organizations, as appropriate for the particular property.