Meet the Innovator: Carly Bales of Le Mondo
Carly is a member of the Social Innovation Lab’s 2019–20 Cohort. To learn more about SIL and the cohort, click here. Join her at our virtual SIL Impact Forum, available here! Stay tuned: Carly’s pitch will be released at 3:45 on Tuesday, May 19th!
SIL: Tell us about Le Mondo. What are you trying to do?
CB: Le Mondo is a grassroots development project building artist-owned-and-driven space for experimental art in downtown Baltimore. We own three formerly-vacant buildings that we are transforming into permanent, accessible resources for artists to grow and sustain an arts practice and career in the city. The completed vision is an experimental art and culture hub comprised of two performance venues, a bar and cafe, artist studio spaces, and affordable live-work apartments.
SIL: Why did you decide to start this? Where did the idea come from?
CB: I was living and working as a performance artist and running a multi-disciplinary art space in downtown Baltimore. Le Mondo grew out of the experiences of myself and my colleagues in the arts community.
The major experiences I encountered over and over again were: Art spaces have a unique power to bring people together in transformative ways but, if used carelessly, they can reinforce socioeconomic divides even within the arts community itself. Independent artists and small arts organizations in Baltimore lack a wealth of safe, affordable, and sustainable space to live and make work, which stifles their ability to grow and thrive. These artists often lack opportunities for ownership within the neighborhoods where they live and work, creating precarious economic challenges.
Le Mondo was founded to change that dynamic. This project was created to strengthen and economically empower the arts communities of Baltimore by creating wider access to permanent, affordable resources and increasing opportunities for asset-building in the city.
SIL: What is success for Le Mondo and how will the world be different with Le Mondo?
CB: I would like Le Mondo to become a hub of experimental and independently-minded art in both the city and internationally, a destination for the exchange and implementation of radical ideas in art and community. I also think that the project can create a model for alternative development and community-ownership that empowers others in Baltimore and beyond to create community-controlled assets and real estate. That example would be an amazing accomplishment. Power to the people.
SIL: What have you accomplished so far?
CB: Le Mondo has acquired three vacant buildings on the historic Howard Street corridor in downtown Baltimore, raised $1.5 million in capital support, and successfully opened the first building of the project this year. We are now in operation at 406 North Howard where we run a multi-use arts venue, neighborhood bar, and studio spaces!
SIL: Tell us about yourself. What got you interested in this issue? Any work or personal experience that informs your work now?
CB: Yeah, basically all of it! I am a performer, director, and occasional writer working in theatre, performance art, and film. Le Mondo grew out of the experiences of myself and other low-income artists living, creating, and producing independent art in Baltimore. I also ran an independent multidisciplinary art space called EMP Collective from 2011–2018.
SIL: What did you most enjoy from your time with the Social Innovation Lab?
CB: I love the peer support of my cohort. As an artist, I am naturally inspired by passionate people creating new worlds and ways of seeing. Also, I love the education and accountability structures the program provides since I do not have any business education or professional training of the sort other than my own lived experiences within the project. (Not to discount that in the least!)
SIL: What advice do you have for would-be social entrepreneurs thinking about starting a venture?
CB: Know your own values as a person, hold them close to you at all times, and infuse them in everything you do as you move forward. They will be your only guideposts in a constant sea of flux and yet-to-be-seen challenges.
SIL: Favorite thing to do in Baltimore?
CB: Sticking areas nearby Le Mondo, my two favorite places in Baltimore are Lexington Market (400 W Lexington) and the Mount Royal Tavern (1204 W Mt Royal Ave). You will never not find yourself in an unexpected conversation with someone friendly, strange, and genuinely interesting at either place. 10/10 would recommend. I also cannot sing praises highly enough for Dear Globe Coffeebar (827 North Howard) which is my go-to for outstanding house-roasted coffee and locally-made pastries from women-owned businesses in town.
SIL: What can we do to help? Anyway to get involved?
CB:
1) Show up and support!
Come out to the space, see a show, buy a drink. Rinse. Repeat. You can sign up for our newsletter here and check out upcoming events here.
2) Become a regular contributor!
Become a monthly donor during this crucial period of capacity building and staff expansion here.
3) Share your time and expertise!
We are currently expanding our board and looking for enthusiastic professionals in Finance, Real Estate, or Law who believe in our vision and know they can help us make it a reality. Set up a coffee date with me here.
Join Carly and Le Mondo on the web at www.lemondo.org and through social media on Instagram. You can connect with Ashley at SIL’s Impact Forum online, starting May 18th! Details available at this link.
