From the Ashes, Open Source Gallery Rises

On November 2 at around noon, a boiler exploded at Associated on 17th Street and Fifth Avenue. The subsequent fire destroyed a gallery that was part of the same building, as well as the home of Monika Wurher.

That gallery was Open Source, a project space created by Wurher in 2008.

But instead of mourning the loss, out of the ashes she created Associated, a unique exhibition curated by herself, Raphaela Riepl and Frank De Leon-Jones.

Open Source is actually the name of an organization which combines community work with art shows in a unique effort to bridge the art world to the community and vice versa.

When she started it three years ago, Wuhrer says she didn't really know what she was getting herself into – she just wanted a space to combine her many projects and events, including a soup kitchen, Soapbox Camp for kids, and Church of Monika, which features guest artist speakers.

After the gallery burned down back in November, Wuhrer got even more creative, moving Open Source into the burnt out remnants of her family brownstone next door.  She named the site-specific show Associated, after its neighbor next door.

There is a pipe made out of bright red felt, a kid's room with The Three Little Pigs projected onto the walls, photography, paintings, music and film. The walls of the second floor living room were ripped up to search for pockets of fire, and the varying wallpapers of the second floor living room have been revealed in the damage, like peeling back layers of time. Every shred has been used in some clever way; no room in the house has been spared the damage, and no space will go unused.

Wurher said that after struggling through the many phone calls back and forth with insurance companies, being given an order to vacate, and trying to get permission to move back in, after three months she felt she had to do something a little more positive.

"That's really what made this happen," said Wurher.

Associated is sort of a celebration of the resilience of a home, a community, and the human spirit in this way, and with plenty of dark humor, a laugh in the face of destruction. There was even an Open Source Carnival last weekend, a benefit in the form of a "New Orleans-style funeral and wake" that featured performances by local artists and musicians.

Associated features work by 30 artists and runs through Saturday; the show ends when contractors begin renovating the house. After Saturday, scheduling is still up in the air; the show may be postponed for a week with a possible reopening to be announced.

For more information about the exhibit or the artists, visit the Open Source Blog.