Anchorage is saying adieu to the building that housed the last self-described sex business in Anchorage, and it’s going out with quite a bang. Throughout April, the Light Brigade and friends teamed up with the Writer’s Block and Cook Inlet Housing Authority, to put on a large scale art exhibition and community event.
Inside the event
New owners of the property saw a unique opportunity in the building before tearing it down. After teaming up with local artists and community outreach organizers, the concept for “Transforming Adults Only, A Neighborhood Interaction,” was born.
The team opened it up to artists from around the city, to do with it what they wanted, while their community engagement team worked to spread the word to Spenardians. Murals, portraits, drawings and performances echoed through the halls of this once seedy building. Meanwhile, outside the community outreach team gathered information from Spenard residents, capturing stories and quotes on video and posters lining the fence.
After the final exhibit, on Friday, April 29, 2016, the building will be demolished. In the fall of 2016 a family friendly bookstore and cafe will stand in the place of Adults Only, welcoming artists from all over.
Kaysie Ellingson got her start as a video producer while attending the University of Southern California for her Master’s Degree in journalism. What started out as a pursuit to become an international reporter for papers became a desire to produce documentaries.While at USC she took on many video projects ranging from various freelancing gigs to starting a web series, ClefCity, where viewers could catch interviews with popular (not mainstream) musicians. But it was her work at IMPACT, the university’s video newsmagazine, that had the heaviest hand in propelling her into video production. She graduated in May 2014 and having never been to Alaska, moved up in the winter of 2015 to work at Alaska Public Media as a video producer.One random bit of information is that prior to graduate school Ellingson worked as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English in Kazakhstan. Some of her fondest memories involve drinking fermented horse milk, testing out how many people can actually fit into a car and of course entertaining her students with her horrible Kazakh speaking skills. She hopes to return someday soon. In the meantime she is enjoying the similar climate of Alaska.Kellingson (at) alaskapublic (dot) org | 907.550.8419 | About Kaysie
