The Space

Almost everyone has had some kind of splendid serendipitous event in their life. Sometimes these wonderful little accidents happen in art, and other times they come along in business, pulling things off course and ending in something spectacular.
In the case of The Space, one of Fargo’s newest creative places, serendipity opened the doors for both art and commerce.

The Space, 417 Main Ave. Suite 210, is the home base for six creative businesses. Photographers, illustrators, public relations and marketing reps, designers, a motivational speaker and a life coach all work from The Space. Each business is independently owned, but they are all located in one communal office area.

A few months ago Yvonne Denault, founder of The Space, walked into the Regional Small Business Center by accident, looking for the Small Business Administration. “I wasn’t looking for office space,” said Denault, creative communications expert and graphic design instructor at Minnesota State Community and Technical College. “But, when I walked in, I struck up a conversation with the building supervisor, and he explained that [the Regional Small Business Center] provides space for rent, for small businesses.”

Denault, out of curiosity, examined the office for rent and realized it had potential to be something very special. “I could see a vision of what could be,” she said.

At the time Denault conducted most of her business with clientele in coffee shops during the day since she didn’t have an office to go to.

She said, “It dawned on me that there might be other people out there like me who need an office space to call home and to meet with clients, without having the huge overhead of staff and equipment. As a result I was able to find six other individuals within the creative arena that were interested in coming together to rent [an office.]”

After making the decision to turn the raw area into an art consortium, Denault and her husband got to work renovating the office. They installed parquet flooring, painted the ceiling and walls, and designed separate work areas and a communal meeting area. They also turned a closed office area into a photography studio. The renovations transformed The Space into a funky loft-like spot with a downtown feel.

The name came about, in a way, by accident as well. “Everyone kept referring to it as ‘the space,’” said Denault. “So, when it came time to name it, it was the obvious choice.”

Lucy Communications (writer/PR), Dan Francis Photography (photographer/Photoshop expert), FATcat Studios (illustrator/photographer/designer), Joli Motif Creative Communications (graphic designer/brand consultant/marketing development provider), Your Meaningful Life (life coach) and Kathleen Siewert, Angles of Courage (administrative assistant) are now all located in The Space.

“I wanted creative people here,” said Denault. “I wanted people with creative needs to have a creative space. There aren’t a lot of walls here, but that’s okay, because we can all use the same creative area. Everyone has a creative energy about them and creative people feed off the creative energy of others.”

She said one goal of The Space is to eventually have revolving art exhibits in a gallery area to help share some of that creative energy with the public. The consortium may grow in the future if enough interest is expressed by other local creative businesses.

The Space also has a website in the works; http://www.TheSpaceonline.com is tentatively scheduled for launch in October.
In the meantime, those interested The Space, or any of the services they provide, can get more information by emailing Denault at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)