sears crosstown

Sears Crosstown, Memphis, 2011

I shot these photographs when I was visiting Memphis for Christmas. The Sears Crosstown building opened in 1927 and served as a store and catalog distribution center until its closing in 1993.  That year I was 7, and the building has been vacant most of my life. I've always liked it, but I really don't know why. In high school, it was the type of place more mischievous teenagers than I would break into to explore. Lately there have been movements in the Memphis art community to develop it into a useful place filled with apartments, art studios, and performance spaces. Crosstown Arts began in 2010 and offers small classes and workshops, as well as tours of the building. With funding from a Crosstown Arts grant, Robin Salant created  The Crosstown Solar Lighting Project, a colored-gel light installation for the  south windows of the building. Memphis' Urban Sketchers has even used the building as subject material for an afternoon of on-site drawing. Once I graduated from college, I never wanted to return to Memphis to live, but I admit to being a little envious of the people who get to experience all of this.

 

Sears Crosstown, Memphis, 2011