A Little House Unfolds Into an Outdoor Theater

This house has a secret. Although it looks plain, some cranks of a hand winch unfold the home's patchwork pink sides to reveal a surprising new purpose: an outdoor community theater for the town of York, Alabama.

Artist Matthew Mazzotta and the Coleman Center for the Arts in York worked together to get to the root of what turns a town into a community. Talking to the citizens of York revealed a desire for shared space where everyone could gather. Mazzotta transformed an abandoned house into something special that brought neighbors together.

Mazzotta creates art in public spaces that helps people interact with one another and enjoy where they live. He turned to the people of York for inspiration, chatting with them to hear their concerns. Conversation quickly revealed a lack of shared space in the community; with the exception of the grocery store and post office, the town had no regular meeting place.


BEFORE. A walk through York quickly reveals the town's hardships, including a slumped real estate market. The bright peach-colored house sat right across the street from the Piggly Wiggly, the town grocery store. "This was the one," says Mazzotta. "The house was just this mess that everyone had to see when they got food every day." He salvaged the home's siding, front door and window frames before the city fire department demolished the structure with a controlled burn.


AFTER. The home's original siding and a new tin roof now top a smaller, more contained version of the older home. Set on the same site, the new structure looks like a playhouse based on the previous house.


"I didn't want to erase the past by just tearing it down and making something completely new," says Mazzotta. "The special part of this is realizing where we were coming from and pulling parts of that off and putting new energy into it. It's better to have that than to wipe out the history, because it shows growth and potential."


It takes four people one and a half hours to unfold the house, turning it into the new outdoor theater. The process takes effort, and the community has to organize and rally together to use the space. "Every time it opens, there has to be a will for it," Mazzotta says.


Metal hand winches carefully lower each section of the house separately.


The sections unhinge off the structure's railroad-tie foundation to reveal five rows of seats.


The rows of church-pew-style seats all face a grassy, raised stage.


Mazzotta also built the stage with a railroad-tie foundation.


On June 15, 2013, York used their new community stage for the first time, initiated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the Mayor Gena Robbins, followed by a gospel choir and local R&B funk band.


Although everyone sat in the pews at first, eventually people got up and danced. "That's the success of it to me, when people don't get hung up on the piece," says Mazzotta. "I mean, this used to be an abandoned dump, and now people are here dancing. It's amazing."

Called the Open House, Mazzotta's project now serves the community of York as a theater for outdoor movies, concerts and other events hosted by the Coleman Center for the Arts. The house is located at 202 Main St., York, Alabama.

">Watch this video to learn more about the Open House.

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URL: A Little House Unfolds Into an Outdoor Theater http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-21122.html