OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — Jambalaya Arts Inc., a local art gallery and non-profit, is opening a new music venue in Oshkosh, with shows starting at the end of March.
- Jambalaya Arts is an art gallery and non-profit that offers an accessible space for artists and community members.
- Currently, Jambalaya hosts music shows in their small gallery space.
- After 25 years, Jambalaya is expanding, opening a new music venue on High Avenue.
Inside Jambalaya Arts Inc. on Main Street in Oshkosh is a community space meant for up-and-coming artists.
"Jambalaya has changed my life, it really has," Jennifer Spence, a local artist and manager of the art gallery, says. "Just the happiness and the joy that I get from this place."
A group of local art students opened the non-profit 25 years ago.
"When we came out though, there was absolutely no place for local artists to show their work besides possibly like a clothing store or a coffee shop," Dan Weber, one of the founders of Jambalaya, says.
The space is welcome to any local artists. President Amie Brownfield says they make membership accessible, asking for volunteer hours rather than expensive studio fees.
"Anyone who has original art is welcome, if we have space, to become a member," Brownfield says. "Currently we have about 30 different members here, from all walks of life, from all ages. Just a place where people can come and create, and that's what we're all about."
Jambalaya also hosts art classes and events, including a Night Gallery with live music in the Oshkosh Algoma Art Alley.
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About a decade ago, the gallery started hosting music shows in the small indoor space.
"We take all the center art down, we board up all the walls with partitions, and we paint them," Spence says. "Then setting up lighting and staging, and so it is a lot of work, and it takes a day or two to do and then to put back up it takes longer because we want to change the gallery around."
But now, the non-profit is expanding. They've purchased the building at 139 High Avenue as a second event space.
"We just really needed a space where we could have music events at the drop of a hat, where we didn’t have to take all of this down," Brownfield says.
The new space, which will be called The Jamb, will have a soft opening at the end of March.
"We’ve gotten too big, and we needed to expand, and that means more opportunities for music and people around the area to use this space for that," Uri Weber, Jambalaya music event coordinator, says. "And I think that’s what we need right now. We don’t have a space, from Fond du Lac to Green Bay, that people can call their own for music right now. Sure, there’s a lot of places you can play, but it doesn’t feel like it’s the community's.”
It's a big step for the non-profit, which runs on donations and volunteers.
"That's what I'm looking forward to is bringing amazing acts and making it accessible for everybody that isn't just the Leech Amphitheater, that isn't just the [Oshkosh] Arena," Uri says.
With the expansion, the group of artists hopes to continue Jambalaya's work for decades into the future.
"I still enjoy it and cherish it as much as the first day we opened here," Dan says.
You can donate to Jambalaya through their website.
