Capital Fringe announced Tuesday it has finalized a deal to purchase 1358 and 1360 Florida Avenue, Northeast, which currently houses the Connersmith Art Gallery and the headquarters of the (e)merge art fair. The performing-arts-focused nonprofit has been in the District since 2005, but its fate in town has been up in the air recently, as its home at Fort Fringe (607 New York Avenue, Northwest) is slated for redevelopment.
Capital Fringe’s new home will feature “three black-box theaters, a scene shop, art gallery/event space and a beer garden,” according to a press release. It will house both the year-round training factory and performances in the Capital Fringe Festival, though the switch won’t take place in time for this year’s event, coming up July 10 through 27. “We still have quite a bit of fundraising ahead of us, but we are enthusiastic at the potential of what this space will become and the cultural influence it will have on the city,” says Peter Korbel, Capital Fringe’s COO.
Connersmith and (e)merge, meanwhile, are looking for a new home. The final hurrah in the Florida Avenue space will be a pre-party for (e)merge on July 12 and the annual student art show Academy 2014, happening July 12 through August 9.
