Could Peabody Benefit From A Touch Of CultureHouse?

PEABODY, MA — As Peabody residents slowly start to get back out and about after a year of the coronavirus health crisis, Emily Cooper and a group of local artists, activists and leaders have a vision of a place that will bring them back together.

A city resident, who describes herself as a part-time musician, artist, author and community farmer, Cooper is taking her experience as an event coordinator for the Peabody-Essex Museum and, together with CultureHouse and guided by an advisory board made up of active community members, are steering it toward a place they hope will benefit Peabody residents looking to meet each other and perhaps share some of their creative sides in a safe and friendly environment.

In their minds, there might be a couple of teens playing table tennis in one area while a group of friends and acquaintances watch a soccer match across the room. A local book club might move in a little later chatting a few feet away from someone looking for a place to read that isn't quite home and but is definitely not work.

Outside a guitarist plays her favorite cover songs next to maybe someone playing ring toss or spot where a small group is drawing pictures or potting plants.

"(We) call it kind of an urban living room," Cooper told Patch. "Its purpose is to stimulate some activity where maybe you don't have a ton of pedestrian traffic. It's a place where everyone and anyone can come and it has the funky edge."

For three years, the Waring School alumna has been working with CultureHouse — an organization that improves livability in local communities by transforming unused spaces into vibrant social infrastructure. Inspired by the community-building legacies of her late grandfather, Ken Schonberg, and aunt, Robin Greiner Schonberg, she aspired to bring the model to the North Shore, and Peabody specifically.

Aaron Greiner and Eric Sargent of CultureHouse have worked with Cooper over these years, forming a dedicated advisory board of locals and meeting with community and municipal leaders in the city. Part artist space and part social club, CultureHouse Peabody would be a temporary indoor and outdoor space for residents to meet friends and maybe make some new ones.

The idea is that giving people a central location to go will lead them to frequent other businesses in the area. Cooper said she began to develop the project about three years ago, in collaboration with CultureHouse, but it picked up steam in recent months as municipal leaders have begun to think about life after a pandemic.

"It's a place that's free to go but where you have events," Cooper said. "The great thing about CultureHouse is you can customize it to what Peabody wants and needs to inspire creativeness and joy, and showcase that creativeness that our community enjoys."

A crowdfunding site was launched with the goal of raising $10,000 for the project that would then receive $10,000 in matching funds from the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency.

Cooper said once the funding is secured CultureHouse Peabody will seek a location for a short-term lease for the pop-up location that could be used for one month or more while data is collected on the economic benefits it provides the area to determine if it's worth investing in something more permanent.

"Peabody, I feel, gets a little overlooked when it has neighbors like Beverly and Salem," Cooper said. "There are some youth, especially, who look at Peabody and downtown and might write it off. But I think it has endless potential when you have people who are actively working so hard to lift it up.

"A place like this will bring it more charm, more activity. That's what makes a city more livable and loveable. It would be a sign that things are starting to move in a good direction for the city."

Go here for more on the CultureHouse Peabody proposal.

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.