A Pop-Up Grows In Brooklyn

How an Event Space has Become an Incubator for Creatives

Annie Erling Gofus
POPPIR Weekly
6 min readSep 19, 2016

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An art installation in Brooklyn’s Court Tree Collective. Image by Court Tree Collective.

Carroll Gardens exudes old world New York charm. As you stroll down tree-lined streets and pass quintessential brownstones, you’re transported to the turn-of-the-century. Time travel might be believable, if it wasn’t for the iPhone-toting, athleisure-sporting 30-somethings roaming the sidewalks. But that’s the best part of Carroll Gardens — old school charm meets Brooklyn cool.

At the center of this hip ‘hood, nestled above a café on one of Carroll Gardens’ main drags, is Court Tree Collective, a curated group of artists and chefs. These creatives — led by Court Tree’s owner Stephen Lipuma — are focused on popping up art and cultural events in this bright, intimate space.

Three years ago, Stephen and his wife Amy noticed a For Rent sign across the street from their Brooklyn apartment. “We looked at [the space] when it came up for rent and a million light bulbs went off,” explained Stephen.

“It seemed like the perfect place to start something creative together.”

Court Tree Collective set for a pop-up dining experience. Image via Court Tree Collective.

Designing a Space for Creativity in Brooklyn

Stephen and Amy are artists — and parents to 11-month-old Rose — who both attended the School of Visual Arts in New York. Together this creative couple has used Court Tree to bring their ideas to life. Stephen, a photographer, used the Court Street space as a photography studio for the first year of their lease. This October, he’s publishing a book of photography.

Screen capture of Stephen’s online photography portfolio.

Amy, an art director, moonlights as a chef. Her father is a chef and she spent time as a child in Hong Kong, so it seems her childhood has inspired her cooking — Amy’s Kar Yee Noodle Shop has been one of Court Tree Collective’s most popular pop-ups to date.

With Court Tree Collective, this crafty couple has managed to transform their love of art into a business.

Promotional material Amy created for her pop-up, Kar Yee Noodle Shop.

Partners in Life and in Business

“My role at Court Tree is too wear as many different hats as possible,” Stephen described his role as Court Tree’s curator and producer. “I deal with a little bit of everything. Right now I do everything from bookings to curations, from marketing to clean up. I would not have it any other way.”

But he added, “Thankfully I married a designer who handles all the promotional materials.” Amy designs a majority of the marketing materials Court Tree uses to promote its events. Through social media and their mailing list, Court Tree shares Amy’s fun and funky designs and videos. One of Stephen’s favorites is a cake Amy transformed into a ticking timer for a cake baking class!

“We both have art and cooking backgrounds,” Stephen explained. “So [Court Tree Collective] was definitely going to be a combination of the two of these things.”

Court Tree was originally conceived as an ad agency, and later transformed into a gallery and event space, but Stephen admits that he and Amy contemplate what it would be like to operate a restaurant every week!

To satisfy those foodie cravings, Court Tree focused on food from the very beginning.

An upcoming event at Court Tree Collective.

Delicious Pop-Ups

Court Tree’s very first event was a cooking class called “Tropical Ghana” by chef Charles Cann. Since this first food-focused pop-up, Court Tree has produced and hosted scores of similar events.

Chef Charles Cann at his Tropical Ghana cooking class. Image via Court Tree Collective.

“One of my favorites is VietComfort who started with us about two years ago doing Pho cooking classes,” explained Stephens. “Which lead to full day sold out pop-ups at our space.” Since hosting her pop-up with Court Tree, Chef Isabelle Nguyen has hosted pop-up restaurants and is developing a food delivery system.

Stephen revels in the success of chefs who use his space, and happily shares the story of Chef Jay, a chiropractor by day and home foodie by night. Stephen and Jay initially connected over a back adjustment, and Court Tree went on to host a handful of cooking classes under Chef Jay’s moniker Chop Happy. “He was recently on The Good Day show which was amazing,” Stephen happily added.

Image via Court Tree Collective.

Stephen and Amy hope to take Court Tree’s concept of food and art to new locations, both local and abroad.

“We are currently curating a show for Urban Outfitters’ headquarters in Philadelphia which opens in October, and we plan on doing a pop-up Kar Yee Noodle Shop in Barcelona this year. These are the type of things we want to evolve into.”

Supporting Local Artists and Chefs

A steep staircase leads to Court Tree Collective’s second floor space. The single, bright room boasts a rotating collection of art. The kitchen — small but mighty — once churned out 120+ bowls of noodles in less than six hours.

“I love the fact that it’s on the second floor, super quiet and tucked away. Yet it happens to be a on a very popular busy street in Brooklyn,” Stephen said about his space. “This combination makes it public enough for a pop-up yet private enough for a private family brunch.”

Image via Court Tree Collective.

#BeOriginal

Court Tree Collective is not your average pop-up space. Although it is possible to rent Court Tree for an event or to host your own pop-up, Court Tree has found its success through collaborating with and supporting artists that Stephen and Amy admire.

“I really like seeing clients use our space to make their own visions come to life.”

Amy and Stephen started Court Tree Collective as a way to flex their own creative muscles. In the process, they’ve helped dozens of makers hit their stride. Knowing chefs and artists have gotten their start at Court Tree brings a lot of joy to Stephen, who adds:

“In New York, there are a lot of creatives. We want to be known as the launching pad for people.”

Stephen’s favorite thing about running a business in NYC is “100% the people. In the past two years I have met so many interesting people that have come through our space. It’s always refreshing to see people trying to do their own thing. The DIY spirit is alive and well here.”

As a final word of advice to fledgling artists and chefs, Stephen wisely added:

“If you can be original and be yourself, you can find success and be happy with what you do.”

Upcoming Court Tree events.

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Annie Erling Gofus
POPPIR Weekly

Tripscout.co | North Dakota Native | 2016 Chili Champion | VP of Content| Writer | Explorer | Lover | Annie@tripscout.co |