Eyedrum to leave longtime space on MLK

A little more than a year after it was forced to scramble for donations in order to pay rent, Eyedrum Art & Music gallery announced today that it will move out of its current location by year's end.

Where will the alternative art and music space go? It appears even Eyedrum's own board doesn't yet know. From the press release:

"We have received attractive offers for a new space and will finalize our decision about relocation shortly,” said Board Chair Allen Welty-Green. "Wherever Eyedrum winds up, though, the organization intends to continue its mission and remain essential to Atlanta's underground and alternative arts scenes," he added.

The organization has been looking for a new home for more than a year now, spurred by the fact that its lease was due to expire at the end of 2010, and landlord Braden Fellman had made no promise of a renewal. In fact, for a cover story I wrote last November, Eyedrum executive director Priscilla Smith said the organization would likely accept an offer to move to a new space in Castleberry Hill that comes with a promise of temporarily subsidized rent. I've since been told that some board members were worried Eyedrum would lose much of its following if it moved too far from its current home in the Memorial Drive corridor. Whatever the reason for the delay, it's now under a crunch to find a new location before it becomes homeless.

Eyedrum has occupied the space at 290 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive since 2001, after a humble beginning as a DIY gallery and concert venue on Trinity Street downtown in 1996.

Today's press release promises a yard sale prior to the organization's upcoming move.