It’s been three years since CL took an extensive look at the progressive role that the then-burgeoning Venture Compound (VC) played in St. Petersburg’s already left-of-left Warehouse Arts District. Much has stayed the same at 2621 Fairfield Avenue. Every penny of profit from shows still goes directly to the artists, and the Venture’s devotees still spend hours keeping the building fit enough for humans to safely convene for shows or band practices during off times. The struggles of relying on noncommercial art and music to keep the lights on are still relentlessly challenging.There have been a few notable sea changes, though. Through partnerships with the University of South Florida and the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, VC now interfaces with academic institutions and museums in addition to hosting national events like St. Pete Noise Fest. Recently, art director Bradley Kokay amicably moved on to other projects, and last March the venue got a love letter from the IRS stating that VC was officially a 501(c)3 nonprofit.
“I hope to be able to start paying myself a comparable salary to a McDonald’s employee,” founder Jesse Vance said then of the new tax status.
Now, less than a half-decade into a mission focused on providing a space for experimental and emerging arts, Vance, 30, is stepping down as executive director, effective immediately, so that he can spend more time on his own art and music-making. He’ll still serve on Venture’s board of directors, but he’s handing the reins over to Emmy Lou, a 24-year-old artist who also organizes St. Pete Free Skool sessions and volunteers at Tampa’s Pyramid Inc., a unique arts-focused nonprofit Adult Day Training program for individuals with intellectual disabilities. She also squeezes in work as a nanny and housekeeper in the midst of slowly working toward an associate’s degree.
“She’s the only person I’ve found that I feel truly gets the purpose of the place. Also, I think she might love it more than I do,” Vance told CL, explaining that VC’s new leader, who’s been repairing the venue and organizing shows on her own for some time now, is in it for the right reasons. “Money, fame, or really anything self-centered is not enough to keep you going with the constant obstacles we face [at VC] from week to week. You’ll burn out fast. She has the right motives at heart and I trust her implicitly, and I believe in her.”
Emmy Lou said that her first art show experiences occurred at coffee shops, where she sat quietly in the back, hindered from social interaction due to nerves and shyness. Being at VC has made her more confident, empowered by people who support her for being who she is and doing what she loves, and it was here that she finally got up the nerve to become more active in her art-making. “It was the first place I ever showed my art publicly. I was put into a crazy group show with art everywhere!” Emmy Lou explained. “I didn’t know that kind of art show was even a thing. Art on the ceiling, the bathroom, the floor — I had never seen anything like it.”
Her organically developed role in VC operations is another part of the reason Vance wholeheartedly believes he’s making the right choice in handing over the reins. “She understands the organization’s importance in ways that I never will because she’s seen all sides of it,” he insisted. “Emmy embodies our mission. Hell, she is our mission.”
Emmy Lou — who declined to give her full name for this story — is ecstatic about her new role and is fully committed to cultivating VC’s mission of bringing together individuals whose collective passion jibes with a venue whose programming can include a flea market, punk show, art installation, and solo cello concerto all within a single week. She is very mindful of everyone who has played a role in shaping and supporting the venue, and looks to lean on the community in growing its capabilities.
“The Venture Compound means everything to me,” she said. “To be so trusted and believed in is something crazy to me.” It’s not very crazy to Vance, who said that in order for VC to grow, he had to remove himself from the equation, since the initial grunt work of establishing the venue as an open space for creatives is already well under way.
“In the first few years, Venture was a very different place,” he said, referencing the 5 a.m. punk shows. “Now we’re a nonprofit with a board of directors.” He likes the analogy of pioneers and frontiersmen requiring a certain savagery to survive, likening Venture Compound as it is today to a civilization that requires a more gentle touch to make it thrive as it evolves and becomes more complex. “That gentle touch is Emmy’s. At this point, Emmy has never ceased to impress me. I can’t wait to see what she is able to accomplish with the staff, the volunteers, the board and myself empowering her.” In her hands, it will be interesting to see what unfolds.
“The Venture Compound is my life,” she said matter-of-factly, “and I couldn’t be happier.”