Blog Take this project and lodge it

Music and entertainment in Madison has been hugely shaped by new venues in the past couple of years. The Frequency is coming up on its first anniversary, the Majestic Theatre marks two years as a much-improved venue this fall, and the High Noon Saloon's still a mere five years old. They're all among the most significant live-music spots in town, and they have a lot of staying power. The venue I'm more worried about, however, is the Project Lodge, a little all-ages gallery and music venue on East Johnson Street that opened in February of 2008. Founders Kendra Larson and Christopher Buckingham are returning to Portland this summer, and they're looking for someone to take over. (Buckingham's moving back this June, Larson's staying until the beginning of August, and they're trying to schedule shows up through then.) Buckingham says he's got some prospects, "but nobody has completely said, 'Yes, let's do it.'"

Like the other venues mentioned above, the Lodge began making an important contribution right after it opened. Since Buckingham and Larson aren't counting on the Lodge financially, they're able to keep the overhead low and focus on visual-art shows and lesser-known music acts from Madison and elsewhere. I remember seeing Milwaukee drummer Jon Mueller (of Collections Of Colonies Of Bees) perform a merciless solo set while shining a pair of painfully bright stage lights at the audience; a packed Frog Eyes show where the Lodge's little air conditioner wasn't helping much; Say Hi headlining one of the space's first shows; local bands like the wacky Trin-Tran and Peaking Lights; and even a few multimedia/film events. Just a couple of weekends ago, an artist turned the whole place into a large viewing box for her video installation. The walls here have hosted plenty of other intriguing art shows, too.

I also remember thinking at most Lodge events, "Hey, people actually showed up!" That isn't something you can take for granted in this town. Yeah, it's true that not everyone in Madison puts a premium on young, unusual, arty stuff. But that stuff needs a vital outlet just like anything else, and it's great when people come out to support stuff like the Media Embassy's multimedia events and bands like The Scarring Party or the defunct Madison outfit A Catapult Western.

The level of activity at the Project Lodge seems to rise and fall in a random way, but Buckingham and Larson made clear from the start that they depended on other folks to take initiative and get involved—whether by booking a band, renting the place out for a gallery show, setting up a class or craft workshop, or even swinging by the Lodge's Sunday potluck brunches. "We're not just pulling this from nowhere," Buckingham says. "I think people have stepped up and made the Project Lodge what it is." So is anyone out there up to organizing the place's schedule and pulling in enough to pay rent for it? If so, I'd urge you to reach Larson and Buckingham at projectlodge@gmail.com, for the good of the city and those who enjoy art and music.