an exhibit of photographs taken by Morgan Strider Haynes

Like a time stamp (or time capsule), this building’s moniker marks its visitors' relationship to its form: past, present, and now future. Woods Grocery. Woods Apartments. The Watson Inn. Club “O” Yeah. The Orange Building. The Pink Building.

Boardinghouse Arts. Static in location but fluid in use throughout its 100+ year lifespan, this building has continuously evolved, shifting uses and shifting users to fill the needs of the community that surrounds it. Someone painted it orange, but time thought better of pink. A brief moment where a gradient was visible is now only echoed in the array of oranges and pinks that regularly bathe its sunset-lit walls. If those walls could talk.

This series of photographs by Boardinghouse architect Morgan Strider Haynes of mon(arc) studio depicts just one of those 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. A collage of colors, cobwebs, and clutter, they underscore the imagination and vision necessary to see a much different and vibrant future. The unrealized dreams and aspirations of the community art hub were still in their nascency, but owners Laura Ritchie and Shirlette Ammons were fully committed to that outcome. Preserving the charm of the building’s character while updating its use, systems, and programming to serve the community for the next 100 years was the guiding project thesis. Original hardwood floors, beadboard walls, wood framing, and chunky moldings can be seen throughout the building and remain intact today. Juxtaposed against new materials of steel, concrete, and fiber cement, they ground the building in history while looking to the future. Club “O” Yeah may be defunct, but Boardinghouse Arts is alive and well.