organization

foundation

In 2003, George Scheer and Stephanie Sherman, collaborating writers and friends, took a spring break trip to the South and stopped in Greensboro to see George’s grandmother’s old store. The box of things they brought back with them to George’s Philadelphia apartment demonstrated that shared fictions through things had the power to expose ideas. This exchange fostered the idea of making the Greensboro store something other than itself, a thinking playground and creative community, the dream fueled by the fantastic combination of the Mixed Up Files of Ms. Basil E Frankweiler and Gertrude Stein’s Paris salons.

In May 2003, George recruited two friends from Michigan, founders Josh Fox and Matt Merfert, and together, they moved to the store to excavate and explore, clearing just enough space in the front of the store to make room for George’s college couch. Stephanie Sherman and Allen Davis joined them in October. Elsewhere became a 501©3 non-profit organization in 2004, and thanks to a first lucky grant from Greensboro’s United Arts Council, some chance movie shoots, a lite-brite commission, and then an active, incessant, absolute fury of unpaid work and resourceful transformation, we made it to the five year mark, which seemed to be a temporal launching point for solid longevity through state and national grants enabling our current sustainable growth.

funding structure

As a non-profit, we like being accountable to the public for the art that we make and the cultural services we provide. We raise our basic operating costs through museum admissions, memberships, event admissions, private donations, fundraisers, tours, educational programs, and services. Our programming costs are covered through grants and special projects, commissions, private and public contributions, fees, and private initiatives. We have cheap rent thanks to the Grey family. We keep our costs really low—we use what we have within reach, we don’t temperature control our building, we buy smart, and hundreds upon hundreds of people give their time and talent without a speck of financial reward. We salute you.

board structure

Elsewhere’s Board of Directors consists largely of the Grey and Scheer family, who have a direct interest in preserving the collection and protecting Elsewhere’s building. The Board of Directors meets bi-yearly to discuss issues related to our finances and architectures. Our Advisory Board, established in Fall 2008, is a group of community leaders who advise Elsewhere on outreach, fundraising, and other projects.

departments

Our greatest organizational asset is our flexibility and adaptivity. We are endlessly discovering new ways to facilitate and foster collaborative, playful processes for exchanging, building, creating, and communicating.