Art Lives Here brings together works by artists we have chosen to live with, many of them friends who are rooted in Durham and in our home state of North Carolina. Drawn largely from our personal collection, the exhibition offers an introduction to Boardinghouse Arts through the art and relationships that have shaped us.

Our collection has grown over time through friendship, curiosity, admiration, and a desire to support artists whose work matters to us. Art Lives Here considers collecting not as an exclusive practice reserved for experts or people with significant means, but as a form of participation and stewardship: a way to support an artist, and an opportunity to care for their work and allow it to become part of the texture of our lives.

As Boardinghouse opens its doors, we want the gallery to feel a little like entering our home. The works gathered here tell stories about the artists and communities we care about and offer a glimpse of what is to come. 

Special thanks to our friends who shared their personal stories and are trusting us to steward work from their collections for the duration of this show.

Love,
Laura & Shirlette

This series of photographs by Boardinghouse architect Morgan Strider Haynes of mon(arc) studio depicts just one of the moments in the building’s storied past. Somewhere between an apartment house and a house of ill repute, these photographs depict the building in its rawest form before the renovation.