Introducing... The Seedling Collective
Have you ever felt the urge to just… start something entirely new? I don’t mean a new TV show or a new book. I mean a new project. One you have never done before, in which you have no experience, no real training, but you just feel compelled to do it…
Well, I did. And I did it. The Seedling Collective is a concept that I have been daydreaming about for years and I am super excited to finally see it come to fruition. Next week, we’re opening the doors to our new creative co-working studio space right here at 121 South Royal. Located where Threadleaf started (they moved up King Street last month), we decided to turn this sweet little 500-square-foot room into a fully adaptable studio, built to accommodate pop-ups, co-working, and general creative productivity.
I decided to call it The Seedling Collective because I envision this being so much more than just a space: it’s a creative community where bloggers, artists, and independent retailers can set up, work together, sell their goods, and grow their client base right here in Old Town. That’s why I started a blog in conjunction with The Collective in order to expand the forum into a true community. This is where I’ll run features about creatives using the space, talk about events and collaborations we have in store, and provide another platform for the independents who are part of The Collective to share their stories and products.
It’s a bit of an experiment, to be honest. I’ll be the first to state that I have never run something like this before. That said, I wanted to create a forum where independent creatives can not just show their work, but actively sell it to an interested and engaged market. This doesn’t just mean retailers: I want photographers to use it as studio space and meetings, I want writers to use it as a second office, and I want creatives to set up workshops and show us all how they do what they do. This doesn’t really exist in Old Town, so I decided to build it myself.
We already have some fantastic events in store:
- Tonight, Alx&Co. will be hosting our whisky tasting experience in collaboration with Old Town Cocktail Week.
- Next week, The Seedling Collective is hosting The Scout Guide Alexandria for their first-ever pop-up event. Featuring products from Tulusa, Meg Biram Art, Secretly Gifting, The Pink Reef, The Way U Handbags, and 52 Thursdays Hair Accessories, this week-long pop-up event showcases some of the best independent creatives in our neighborhood. Make sure you check out the launch party on Monday, May 13th; see below for details.
- May 20th - 24th, we’re holding a Co-Working Open House so that you can visit the space and see how the co-working set up might work for you. I’ll be there with special treats and ready to answer all your questions about The Seedling Collective.
I’m excited to share all of this with you: the space, the blog, all of it. Make sure you follow our Instagram @theseedlingcollective for updates and subscribe to our blog to read in-depth interviews with our featured creatives.Hopefully we’ll be seeing you at one of our events soon!
:: Erin Tetterton
