Amplify Memphis Day Ten: The Arts as an Economic Driver on Broad Ave. and the Power of Trade Skills in Binghampton
Today’s student blogger is Cecelia Cordera (’17):
On Friday of our second week of Amplify Memphis, we visited the Broad Avenue Arts District and the Binghampton Development
Corporation. The Broad Avenue Arts District is extremely unique in that it is a part of town that has been revitalized not only to improve the commercial area, but with the creative and artistic community’s energy being the main driver of the recreation of the neighborhood. Along the strip of Broad Avenue are art studios, art galleries, restaurants, retail shops, and event spaces. Another unique aspect of Broad Avenue is that there are also murals and public art incorporated into the walls and buildings along the avenue. We visited two businesses in the Broad Avenue Arts District.
First, we met with Karlee Hickman, the founder of Propcellar Vintage Rentals, who moved to Memphis from California with her husband who flies for FedEx and became an entrepreneur. Her idea started with a piece of furniture she bought and refurbished
to sell. However, after seeing the finished piece, she was unable to part with her work. She kept doing this with additional pieces and rather than selling the refurbished or antique pieces, she kept them and rented them out to individuals for photo-shoots, weddings, birthdays, and fundraisers. Propcellar as a rental business became successful enough that Karlee expanded it by renting and refurbishing a phenomenal industrial warehouse space about a block from Broad Avenue where she can both store her props as well as host really cool events
incorporating the props stored in the facility. Her story and space are unique to the neighborhood and have helped to incorporate both the local and artistic influences that makes Broad Avenue unique as a neighborhood. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Propcellar because I thought it was incredibly unique and loved the way the space is decorated. I thought her props and furniture were lovely and incredibly unique, something I would definitely want to use if I were planning on hosting a major event such as a wedding, prom, or fundraiser. It was also very gracious of her to let us come and visit her work space and let us view all that she had worked so hard to create.
After our visit with Mrs. Hickman, we visited with Tom Clifton who owns T. Clifton Art, which features works of oil painting, blown glass, and sculpture from a number of different local and national artists. Tom gave us some history about Broad Avenue and the 
way the neighborhood used to be as well as how local artists and entrepreneurs came together to revitalize this part of town. He was very knowledgeable, and had been working in Broad Avenue for over a decade. He told us about how before there were the number of shops, restaurants, and galleries that there are now, the local artists and business owners created festivals and fairs around Broad Avenue in order to get the community more engaged and to help them imagine what Broad Avenue might become someday with a collective artistic and entrepreneurial energy. These artists and locals also painted bike lanes along the street to connect the district with bike trails at Overton Park and the Shelby Farms Greenline that runs east/west from Shelby Farms. The bike lanes have been a major part of the community and are still there, enjoyed by thousands of individuals every year.
Our last stop of the day was with one of my favorite organizations in Memphis, the Binghampton Development Corporation (BDC). We met with Noah Gray, the executive director of the BDC and he gave us a presentation outlining what the organization’s 
programs do, the progress that has been made in the community, individual success stories of individuals who have been involved with their programs, and the BDC’s plans for the future. The mission of the BDC is to “Improve the quality of life in the Binghampton Community. As a community oriented and faith backed entity, the Binghampton Development Corporation is working to be an instrument of God’s love to reach those in economic oppression.” Noah Gray clearly is passionate about the mission and the work that he is doing.
The work done by the BDC is both impactful and influential. Mr. Gray gave us some examples of stories about people from the neighborhood, and how prosperous they have become in their adult lives because of their involvement in programs offered through the BDC. One man who was a part of the trade skills training program through the BDC got hired by a construction company, and because of his obvious skills and subsequent success, he became a manager at the company at merely
twenty-three years of age. This enabled him to hire other skilled graduates of
the education programs through the BDC. Because of his success, he was able to positively impact other people from his neighborhood by providing them with jobs as well. This is an embodiment of the mission of the BDC and is only one example of a story of how the BDC is impacting people’s lives, and the community as a whole, in innumerable ways. The BDC is revitalizing the Binghampton neighborhood in amazing ways and is one of the most impactful non-profits in the city of Memphis.