House of Yes Is Back…In Bushwick!
Some of you may remember the circus show cum artist collective House of Yes, which dominated the North Brooklyn art scene for 18 months while operating out of a venue in East Williamsburg. The collective got so big that even THE TIMES WAS ON IT. Then last August, a plainclothes detective made his way into their Maujer Street warehouse and discovered that alcohol was being sold without a license. Though co-founder Anya Sapozhnikova told the Times (and presumably the police) that the folks selling booze were unaffiliated renters, the House of Yes still got shut down. That corner of East Williamsburg has been noticeably quieter since.
Now, Bushwick Daily is reporting that House of Yes is coming back in a big way. The collective has found a new home at 408 Jefferson Street, which sits right at the corner of Wyckoff Avenue and near the Jefferson L. This time around, the House of Yes founders want to make the arts part of their non-profit more “sustainable” by adding a full bar, a smokehouse restaurant (with organic and vegetarian options) and a lounge. The new venue will boast 5000 square feet of indoor space and 2000 square feet of outdoor space.
“By day, the House of Yes will operate as a space for professional and up and coming performers to rehearse and hone their skills, and a place for local communities and schools to experience the performing arts,” the founders say in a statement on their website. “By night we will become a theater, arts and events space hosting a wide variety of live performance.”
To clarify, the “performers” in question will be aerialists and circus performers because House of Yes equals magic. On top of that, the collective will have four major in-house productions per year with weekend programs on the side. If all goes well, House of Yes Part Deux (or Part Trois if you count their run in Queens) will open for business this fall. We approve. Welcome back, you guys!
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