Let’s be honest- the cafe is utter crap. Horrible coffee, dessert items that are so-so and uncomfortable seats. I’m liberal as it gets, but I have no love for a business that can’t survive by doing simple stuff right.

Look at Tryst, hell- look at any decent cafe in town. Then ask yourself why the Warehouse Cafe side should exist? Oh wait..the galleries.

As this city (and really, the world) becomes more homodginized (because let’s face it- it’s happening everywhere. Been to London recently?), it’s important to have these multi-disciplenary spaces for artists to test waters. Without these incubators, art and culture will flee to spaces that are more welcoming and offer the room for cultural expansion (Philadelphia 8-9 years ago anyone?)
To see how Philadelphia’s art scene has grown in the past decade is amazing. And spaces like Gallery 1026 and (the now defunct in the space-specific sense) SPECTOR Gallery help to really get foothold in the recognition.
To think that people might shun the Warehouse because of the inconvienience of a cash bar, is sad. I’m not saying it wouldn’t make things easier, but think about your route to the Warehouse. How many ATMs do you pass? There are two around the corner at the NPR building alone.
The Rupperts have done a lot (if I could underscore that 6 times I would) for the DC art scene and DC artists. Now it’s time to give back.
Paul and Molly, I salute and support you. What ever you need me to do, I’m ready.

Warehouse is one of the only cool things going on in this town. If they close their doors it will be a shame, but here’s hoping they sell it for a mint and open another shop somewhere within the District.

Molly Ruppert is an independent, feisty, hardworking person with a kind, open heart that nonetheless is able to integrate business and kindness with a sharp art savvy personality and an indefatigable sense of community. Together with Paul, they are a hands-on business model that make up the main workforce at Warehouse, be it as bar tenders, waiters, gallerist or theatre managers (they do have an excellent chef!). And yet, the Warehouse is not a money-making operation.

But she and Paul and their buildings are an asset and an important part of the cultural tapestry that makes up the Greater Washington, DC area art scene.

While I was curating “Seven,” Molly and I discussed the surrounding neighborhood, and the important cultural contribution that I felt Warehouse had added by retaining a little cultural DNA for a neighborhood that was almost swallowed whole by the huge Washington Convention Center.

Not that I think that the Convention Center is a bad thing; in fact it is a great asset economically to Washington and to the neighborhood, but a neighborhood also needs places like Warehouse to remain alive, and not just become another soul-less block of cookie cutter businesses and franchises.

In discussing the surrounding buildings, Molly confided in me that she was bleak about the future of her property, and that she had already turned down several offers from developers to buy her family buildings. However, she suspected that once these developers got the ear of the city administrators, she would be forced out of the neighborhood.

“How can they force you out?”, I asked.

She answered by telling me that she suspected that at some point the city would double or triple her property taxes, effectively making it financially impossible for Ruppert to continue her business model or even ownership of the spaces.

And it is brutally ironic that at the same time that we’re all congratulating Molly Ruppert’s sense of community for stepping up and saving J.T. Kirkland’s “Supple” project, we get the news that Warehouse property taxes for next year are increasing over 500%!

A 500% property tax hike is an obscene tax hike no matter who or what for, but especially in a city such as Washington, DC, which owes so much of its revitalization to private industry and to hard-working small businesses like the Warehouse.

I am not sure what “we” can all do, but I have a few ideas, and the first one is for organizations such as the Washington Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the Cultural Alliance of Greater DC, and other such cultural organizations and entities of the capital region to step up and use whatever contacts or networks they have to make sure that (as I suspect), in the same way that some developer got the “ear” of some city politician, that these organizations in turn get the “ear” of some political allies (or even get Hizzoner’s ear) to ensure that this obscene tax hike gets reviewed and reduced or eliminated, and Warehouse afforded a chance to remain in place as one of DC’s leading cultural icons.

Kudos to Gould and the WCP for breaking this story!

After reading that I guess my sympathies are dampened since they’ve been aware of the money losing operation. I’ve only been once but I feel as though a relocation would fit better. Right now it’s more of a destination point versus a place that fits well into a neighborhood.

I bet this place would see a lot more traffic if it was over on 9th street. Then it could come into the fold as a neighborhood place to hang out and also be a destination for the art/music scene. Of course there space now gives them the opportunity to be able to do everything and a relocation would probably change that in terms of square footage available to them.