Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Karper and Tammy Greenman.
Kelsey and Tammy, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Factory Obscura formed in 2017 with a goal to create a large-scale, permanent home for immersive art in Oklahoma City. The steps toward that big dream have been incremental, starting with a series of temporary experiences that have grown in scale and ambition with each iteration. We are now building our first permanent experience, opening September 2019.
Our first experience was Midnight Dinner, an immersive, interactive, performative dinner for 103 guests, who were transported into a magical alternate world created in an abandoned warehouse. This one-night event raised funds to help us buy the materials for our first immersive environment, SHIFT, a temporary 1200 square foot experiential art installation which challenged participants to physically explore a full-sensory environment. SHIFT welcomed 20,000 visitors during its 3-month run at Current Studio in Oklahoma City, Nov 2017 to Feb 2018.
Our third temporary experience, BEYOND, was a 3000 square foot experiential art installation which invited participants to abandon the known and embark on a journey into what lies beyond.
Our current experience is MIX-TAPE, a 6,000 sq ft built environment exploring the old-school art of the mix-tape through new media environments of visuals, sounds, textures, and interactivity. Opening September 21, 2019, MIX-TAPE will provide a year-round immersive art destination in Oklahoma City.
While MIX-TAPE is a permanent experience, which will grow and evolve over time, we are still working toward expansion into an even larger space, allowing us to fulfill our full ambitions, including programs that support arts education in our community, adding to the economy of Oklahoma City by creating thriving wage jobs for artists and other creatives, and providing space in for artists of all types to take risks and explore experiential art forms.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with building anything new, there have been lots of things to learn along the way! Both our creative work and our business model are intentionally experimental, and we do a lot of what we refer to as “building the plane while we fly it.” We accept that challenges are part of the process, and treat them as opportunities to learn, grow, and define who we are. One of the benefits of working in a collective is having an entire team with diverse skills to draw from, which gives us confidence that we can solve any problem that comes our way.
Factory Obscura – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Factory Obscura is an Oklahoma City-based art collective creating immersive experiences that awaken wonder, build community, and make the world better. Our work combines fine art and craft techniques with new media and technologies to create one-of-a-kind experiences that evoke wonder and connect people to each other. While a Factory Obscura experience always provides a fun place to take photos and explore, you’ll also find deeper layers of meaning if you’re willing to dive in. We’re also known for throwing really fun parties and events! You never quite know what to expect, but you should always accept an invite from Factory Obscura.
Our B-Corp mission is to support arts education in our community. So far, we have been able to provide free field trips to hundreds of school children, and have plans to expand our educational offerings significantly as we grow toward our larger permanent home.
Since our founding, we’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to our work from the community, and their involvement has become an important part of our work and identity. One way this happens is through our Community Volunteer Nights, where we open our studio for people to come make components of our installations with us. Not only does this give people a sense of ownership in the work, but it provides a fun environment to meet like-minded friends while doing something creative. Our Volunteer Nights have become so popular that we’ve had to limit attendance, which makes it clear that people feel connected to each other by making things together. Creating that sense of connection with other people is in everything we do.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Every time we have met a major milestone in our growth has felt like the proudest moment so far. We started with a really big vision, and every step has brought us closer to realizing it. When our first immersive experience SHIFT had over 20,000 visitors in three months, we knew we were on to something big. With BEYOND, we were able to prove our business model by earning a return for investors during another three-month run. Now, our first permanent project has allowed us to hire our first employees in creative jobs that did not exist in our city previously.
Pricing:
- Adult: $15
- Children 4-12 years: $12
- Children 3 & under: Free
- Individual Annual Pass: $70
- Family Annual Pass: $175
Contact Info:
- Address: 25 NW 9th St
Oklahoma City, OK 73102 - Website: www.factoryobscura.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/factoryobscura/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/factoryobscura/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/factoryobscura
Image Credit:
Justice Smithers, Todd E. Clark, Josh Vaughn, Brandon Seekins, Ann Sherman
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